(MISA/IFEX) – Two of the four journalists from the “Zimbabwe Mirror” who were arrested by Zimbabwean police on 8 February 1999 were on 9 February formally charged and released on bail. Reporter Grace Kwinjeh and the group publisher of the paper, Ibbo Mandaza, were released on bail of Zim$5,000 (US$135). They were both charged under […]
(MISA/IFEX) – Two of the four journalists from the “Zimbabwe Mirror” who
were arrested by Zimbabwean police on 8 February 1999 were on 9 February
formally charged and released on bail. Reporter Grace Kwinjeh and the
group publisher of the paper, Ibbo Mandaza, were released on bail of
Zim$5,000 (US$135). They were both charged under Section 50 (a) (2) of
the Law and Order Maintenance Act, which states that anybody who
publishes a false story which is likely to cause “fear, alarm or
despondency among the public or any section of the public…shall be
guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a period not
exceeding seven years, unless he satisfies the court that before making,
publishing or reproducing as the case may be, the statement…he took
reasonable measures to verify the accuracy thereof.” Kwinjeh and Mandaza
were told to appear again in court on 1 March.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 10 February, 9 February and 8 February 1999**
The two other journalists who were arrested with them, news and managing
editor Fernando Goncalves and former news editor Farai Mungazi had the
charges against them dropped.
The Production Editor at the “Zimbabwe Mirror”, Trevor Harris, told MISA
that the paper’s lawyers were currently formulating an application to
declare the sections of the law under the two have been charged
unconstitutional. It was not clear whether this application would be
heard before 1 March.
Background Information
Kwinjeh, Goncalves and Mungazi were all arrested on the morning of 8
February in connection with a story that was run in October last year.
Mandaza later handed himself over to the police, saying that as
editor-in-chief, he was equally responsible for the story for which the
other journalists had been arrested. Mandaza was subsequently also held.
Goncalves and Mungazi were released later in the day, but Kwinjeh and
Mandaza were held overnight.
No warrant was presented when the three journalists were arrested
yesterday morning. However, the arresting officer, an Inspector Matema,
indicated that they were being taken in for questioning in connection
with the contentious article.
The article, written by Kwinjeh, reported on a Zimbabwean casualty in
the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose family,
apparently, was sent only his head for burial. The government denied
these allegations, and in fact, a few weeks after the story appeared,
the authorities claimed to have exhumed the soldiers’ body to prove the
story wrong. The production editor of the “Zimbabwe Mirror”, Trevor
Harris, told MISA, however, that they had stuck to their story because
they were not invited to the alleged exhumation, nor did they ever get
to see the actual body.
The latest arrests brought to seven the number of journalists who had
been detained in Zimbabwe since the beginning of the year. On 12 and 19
January, respectively, the editor of the “Standard”, Mark Chavunduka,
and reporter Ray Choto were held over a story in their paper on 10
January alleging a coup plot in Zimbabwe. The government said there was
no such plot and charged them with publishing a false story likely to
cause alarm and despondency. Both men were held illegally without any
access to their lawyers or family, while also being subjected to serious
torture at the hands of military interrogators.
They were released on 21 January on bail of Zim$10,000 (approx. US$260)
and were remanded to appear for trial on 22 February. On 22 January, the
day after their release, police arrested the managing-director of “The
Standard”, Clive Wilson, and held him in jail for three nights. Wilson
was released unconditionally on 23 January after the Attorney General
refused to prosecute him for what he said was the police’s lack of
evidence.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
to freedom of expression, association and assembly
and a respect for press and media freedom
violation of the right to freedom of expression as contained in Article
19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and
Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, of which
Zimbabwe is a signatory.
Appeals To
His Excellency President Robert Mugabe
Office of the President
Causeway, Harare
Zimbabwe
Fax: +263 4 708 557Mr Moven Mahachi
Zimbabwe Minister of Defence
Fax: +263 4 796 762
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
