(MISA/IFEX) – Geoffrey Nyarota, editor-in-chief of “The Daily News”, and two of his reporters, Sandra Nyaira and Julius Zava, were charged with criminal defamation on Wednesday 4 April 2001, according to a 5 April “The Daily News” report. The charges arise from the publication of a story linking President Robert Mugabe and the speaker of […]
(MISA/IFEX) – Geoffrey Nyarota, editor-in-chief of “The Daily News”, and two of
his reporters, Sandra Nyaira and Julius Zava, were charged with criminal defamation on Wednesday 4 April 2001, according to a 5 April “The Daily News” report.
The charges arise from the publication of a story linking President Robert Mugabe and the speaker of parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to what the newspaper described as unauthorised payments allegedly made by Air Harbour Technologies in connection with the controversial US$5 billion new Harare International Airport.
The three journalists were charged under the Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA). The police said the articles constituted criminal defamation of the president and the speaker, who have since
complained to the police. The stories were published in November and December 2000. The three are denying the charges.
“There is nothing criminally defamatory about these stories. Let them sue for civil defamation, if they want, and we believe we are more than prepared to defend ourselves,” said Nyarota. However, the police proceeded to record statements from the three, who were warned and cautioned.
“The Daily News” published the first story on 28 November, reporting that Hani Yamani, the owner of Air Harbour Technologies, which won the tender to design and construct the new airport, wrote a letter to Mugabe complaining that he had spent Z$165 million (US$3 million) in unauthorised payments and stood to lose more. The contents of Yamani’s handwritten letter to Mugabe were published in “The Daily News”. The authenticity of the letter has never been challenged.
Subsequent to the publication of the story, on 28 November, Yamani telephoned “The Daily News” from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to restate his allegations, “The Daily News” reports.
He alleged that his local agents, businessman Tony Kates and Heena Joshi, the daughter of Jaynat Joshi, the managing director of Zidco Holdings, a ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) conglomerate, submitted a list of people they allegedly made payments to. On the list, which Yamani attached to a letter which he wrote to Mugabe on 15 July 1999, appear the names of Mnangagwa, former ministers Enos Chikowore and Simon Moyo, President Mugabe’s nephew Leo Mugabe, the dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Palestinian Ambassador Ali Halimeh, and several other prominent people, including Tommy Sithole, a former editor of “The Herald”. Sithole has since admitted that he received certain monies as indicated on the list. He claimed that the payment was for a supplement on the new airport, which appeared in the paper.
According to the list, Sithole received a payment of Z$100,000 (US$1,800) and another payment of Z$618 750 (US$11,250).
Yamani alleged that Kates and Heena claimed they had paid Z$1.1 million (US$20,000) through Zidco towards the construction of President Mugabe’s Borrowdale mansion.
The police said they were also eager to charge Nyarota for publishing stories on the lawsuit against President Mugabe in New York, in which Mugabe is being sued by relatives of victims of political violence. Nyarota was asked to report to the police for questioning.
“Somebody failed to deal with us physically recently. It appears somebody else is now attempting to exhaust us physically and mentally through the law courts,” said Nyarota.
