The judgement on the bail application is now set to be heard on Thursday.

Mhlanga appeared in court facing charges of transmitting data messages inciting violence.

Despite voluntarily handing himself over to the police, the state is denying bail because Mhlanga might interfere with investigations.

The detention of Mhlanga has reignited fears of a return to the dark days when press freedom in Zimbabwe was severely restricted. Many are concerned that this case represents an unjustified harassment of the media.

"In our consideration, this is a completely unjustified charge against the journalist. We made the point in court that this amounts to harassment of the media. Under our law, section 50 of the constitution of Zimbabwe states that every accused person is entitled to be released on his or her initial appearance at court, except where there are compelling reasons justifying continued detention. We contended that the state does not have any such compelling reasons," said Mhlanga's lawyer, Chris Mhike.

--SABC/ChannelAfrica--