(MISA/IFEX) – On 26 June 2003, “The Daily News” editor Nqobile Nyathi was arrested and charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for allegedly publishing advertisements insulting the president. Nyathi confirmed that she had been summoned to Harare Central Police Station. “I was summoned to the public order and security section at the […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 26 June 2003, “The Daily News” editor Nqobile Nyathi was arrested and charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for allegedly publishing advertisements insulting the president. Nyathi confirmed that she had been summoned to Harare Central Police Station. “I was summoned to the public order and security section at the Central Police Station,” said Nyathi. “I was charged under POSA and they were referring to advertisements that appeared from the 16th to the 19th of May. I was made to sign a warned and cautioned statement and they said they are still investigating the case,” she said.
The advertisements were placed in “The Daily News” by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party. They show a cartoon of President Robert Mugabe being chased by a crowd. The wording reads, “Do you recognise him: Thief! Thief! Thief!” The advertisement goes on to say, “Yes, of course we recognise him. We recognise him as the senile who stole your voice in March 2002. We recognise him as the father of the militia who murder and rape civilians and women. We recognise him as a plunderer of our national resources, pensions and all. Yes, we recognise him as the one denying us the right to express ourselves. Action for national survival.”
Under Section 16 of POSA, it is an offence to “publicly and intentionally make any false statement about or concerning the President or an acting President, knowing or realising that there is risk or possibility of engendering feelings of hostility towards, or causing hatred, contempt or ridicule of the president or an acting president, whether in person or in respect of his office.” The charge carries a fine of Z$20,000 (approx. US$25) and/or one year in prison.
Nyathi is the third editor to be charged under POSA in June. On 11 June, Francis Mdlongwa, editor-in-chief of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, the publishers of “The Daily News”, was charged with publishing a false advertisement when he was still an editor at “The Financial Gazette” in 2002 (see IFEX alert of 12 June 2003). On 24 June, Bill Saidi, editor of “The Daily News on Sunday”, was charged for allegedly publishing a false story in 2002 (see alert of 25 June 2003).