N. Jersey Woman Faces 20 Yrs For Tweeting Zimbabwe Pres. Is "Sick Man"

In the states, criticizing the president has become as American as baseball. Freedom of speech. Thousands of people take to Twitter each day to express their dissatisfaction regarding the now president of United States and even past presidents. Freedom of speech.

In other countries, there are laws against free speech. Sadly, an American woman in Zimbabwe faces 20 years in prison over a Tweet towards Zimbabwe's president, according to NJ.com. Martha O'Donovan is finding out that this type of freedom can't be expressed everywhere. 

O'Donovan, a college graduate of New York University, has been arrested for 'subversion' after she Tweeted out a form of criticism about president Robert Mugabe. O'Donovan is accused of tweeting an illustrated picture of Mugabe with the caption "sick man." This tweet has been viewed as 'subversion' among other things by Zimbabwean officials.

O'Donovan's arrest comes nearly a month after the Zimbabwe  government added a cybersecurity position to it's infrastructure. According to reports, Zimbabwe is looking at ways to combat against anti-government movements. Last year, the country saw it's biggest anti-government protest in the last decade. 

The Associated Press recently caught up with, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director, Muleya Mwananyanda.  He went on to say, “This arrest marks the start of a sinister new chapter in the Zimbabwean government’s clampdown on freedom of speech, and the new battleground is social media.” 

During her first court appearance, O'Donovan was reported to be at a loss for words. The only time O'Donovan would show some sort of expression was when she waved to a group of supporters. 

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights currently represent O'Donovan on on her current charges including a charge undermining authority.

We're hoping they find a way to bring O'Donavan home...soon.