Bridgewater Woman Released From Prison, Facing Charges Over Tweet

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — The Bridgewater woman who is facing 20 years in prison for an alleged tweet about the president of Zimbabwe has been released from jail on bail. Martha O'Donovan, 25, a native of the Martinsville section of the township was arrested last Friday at her home in Harare, Africa over a tweet calling President Robert Mugabe a "sick man" along with a photo accusing him of using a catheter last month, according to multiple reports.

O'Donovan was granted the $1,000 bail and released Friday after a judge found that there was a "patent absence of facts" in the government's case against her, according to Reuters.

She had been detained since Nov. 3 in the maximum-security Zimbabwe jail.

O'Donovan is due back in court on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.

The tweet in question said: "We are being led by a selfish & sick man @GomoDubi @tafadzwamarere@Busisa74 @caesarzvayi@mayor_justice @JessieFMajome@ProfJNMoyo @263Chatpic.twitter.com/9Q2PDsFrwV," which was posted from the Twitter account @matigary, The Washington Post reported.

Zimbabwe authorities reportedly tracked the author of the tweet down through an IP address. However, O'Donovan denied the claims and @matigary has continued to tweet since she was jailed.

O'Donovan appeared in court on Saturday and was represented by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. She was charged with subversion, which carries up to 20 years in prison. O'Donovan also is charged with undermining the authority of or insulting the president.

The ZLHR filed an application to dismiss the case, which was denied, according to NJ 101.5.

Watch: US Woman Bailed In Zimbabwe Case

(Image via Associated Press video)

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