Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

(MISA/IFEX) – On 17 February 1998, Fred M’membe, editor-in-chief of “The Post” demanded that parliament refer the contempt case against him to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to decide whether he (M’membe) should be prosecuted. M’membe was replying to a letter from parliament which sought his comments on deputy speaker Simon Mwila’s ruling that […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Zimbabwean government has withdrawn the Public Order and Security Bill, which sought to replace the controversial Law and Order (Maintenance) Act. According to the 19 February edition of the state-owned daily “The Herald”, the Bill, which received widespread opposition locally and internationally, was withdrawn by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dumiso Dabengwa. […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 19 February 1998, Hannes Smith, the jailed editor of the Namibian weekly Windhoek “Observer”, was granted bail pending the outcome of an appeal against his conviction for contempt of court and sentence of four months’ imprisonment. Smith has now been released on a US$220 bail after seven days of incarceration. He has […]

(MISA/IFEX) – According to MISA, Hannes Smith, editor of the Windhoek weekly, “The Observer”, has been committed to a Namibian prison for failing to produce confidential documents to a coroner conducting an inquest in the 1989 assassination of political activist Anton Luboswski. Judge Nic Hanna ordered Smith’s imprisonment in Windhoek on 13 February 1998, after […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 5 February 1998, a Malawi High Court Judge, after dismissing key witnesses for the “Daily Times” newspaper as being arrogant and showy, ordered the paper to pay Malawi diplomat Ziliro Chibambo K90, 000 (about US$3000) in defamation costs. The award included costs for aggravated damages as well as Chibambo’s costs of the […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 27 January 1998, the Lusaka High Court dropped its intentions to have “The Post” newspaper editor-in-chief Fred M’membe, senior reporter Reuben Phiri and human rights activists Lucy Sichone and Alfred Zulu answer contempt of court charges, reports the Zambia Independent Media Association (ZIMA/MISA-Zambia). The contempt charges followed remarks carried in Phiri’s 12 […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 28 January 1998, National Assembly deputy speaker Simon Mwila ruled that the editorial published in “The Post” on 16 January headlined “Useless House” was contemptuous of Parliament. On 20 January, Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) members of Parliament had demanded the arrest of “The Post” editor-in-chief Fred M’membe because his editorial stated […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Three journalists were briefly detained by the Zanzibar police on 4 January 1998 while on assignment to cover demonstrations, reports MISA-Tanzania. Journalists Mwinyi Sadala of “Nipashe” and photo-journalist Khalfan Said of the “Guardian” newspapers were detained at Madema Police Station for three hours for attempting to interview detained opposition leaders. Sadala and Said […]