(MISA/IFEX) – On 16 May 2002, Bornwell Chakaodza, the editor of the independent Sunday newspaper “The Standard”, and journalists Farai Mutsaka and Fungai Kanyuchi of the same newspaper were arrested on allegations of having written “falsehoods”. The three individuals were arrested at around 1:00 p.m. (local time) by the Criminal Investigations Department for allegedly writing […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 16 May 2002, Bornwell Chakaodza, the editor of the independent Sunday newspaper “The Standard”, and journalists Farai Mutsaka and Fungai Kanyuchi of the same newspaper were arrested on allegations of having written “falsehoods”.
The three individuals were arrested at around 1:00 p.m. (local time) by the Criminal Investigations Department for allegedly writing falsehoods about the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP). They were detained at Harare central police station.
In an article entitled “Police in sex for freedom deals?” which appeared in the 12 May edition of “The Standard”, entertainment editor Kanyuchi wrote that ZRP officers were having sexual relations with commercial sex workers as a condition for their release. Kanyuchi quoted commercial sex workers who said the police were involved in such behaviour. “These revelations follow an investigation into the operations of some of the city’s ladies of the night who say they are part of a ‘sacred cow network’ with the police officers, which sees them providing sex in exchange for freedom from arrest,” Kanyuchi wrote in the story. The story quotes Sergeant Mhondoro of Avondale police station denying the allegations.
Mutsaka was arrested over a lead and first page story in the same newspaper that stated that the Zimbabwean government has acquired an assortment of anti-riot gear and military hardware from
Israel. The story entitled “Deadly riot gear arrives” includes a picture of one of the riot vehicles the police has acquired. The reporter contacted Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo who refused to comment on the basis that he was at a funeral.
“The Standard” management has informed its lawyers Atherstone and Cook of the development. Linda Cook is representing the three journalists.
In a statement to MISA’s Zimbabwe chapter (MISA-Zimbabwe), Cook said that the three journalists are being charged under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Section 80 (1) Subsection 1 (a and b). Section 80 is entitled “abuse of journalistic privilege” and reads: “A journalist shall be deemed to have abused his journalistic privilege and committed an offence if he does the following a) Falsifies and fabricates information, b) Publishes falsehoods”. Subsection 2 reads: “A person guilty of the offence shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years”.
On 16 May, Cook told MISA-Zimbabwe that “warned and cautioned” statements had been recorded from the journalists and that she was still trying to establish whether the police were going keep them for the night.
