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ZIMBABWE
State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
one hundred thousand dollars or to
imprisonment for a period not exceeding
two years”.
On May 16, 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.
UPDATE
DATE: 2002-05-17
PERSON(S): Andrew Meldrum,
Jan Raath, Peta Thornycroft
VIOLATION(S): Legislation
The Supreme Court has thrown out
an urgent application by three journalists
seeking the determination of
their matter in which they are challenging
the constitutionality of some
clauses of the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act.
On Thursday May 16, 2002, the
court ruled that journalists Jan Raath,
Andrew Meldrum and Peta
Thornycroft must follow the normal
procedure, as there are no sufficient
grounds to warrant the case being dealt
with as an urgent matter. Beatrice
Mtetwa, the journalists’ lawyer, was
informed in a letter from the Supreme
Court Registrar that their urgent application
was placed before a judge in the
chambers who said the matter was not
urgent and instructed the applicants to
follow the normal procedure.
The three journalists are questioning
the constitutionality of certain sections
of the act and want them repealed.
The act mentions the establishment of
a Media and Information Commission
that will be responsible for the accreditation
of journalists among other
things. The commission has still not
been set up as the act came into effect
in March.
“As a result, the applicants have not
been able to apply to the commission
if they wish to do so. In my professional
view, it is imperative that the
application and constitutionality, or
otherwise, of the impugned sections be
determined as soon as possible but in
any event before 16 June 2002 as the
applicants’ guaranteed constitutional
rights will be clearly affected,” said the
journalists’ lawyer.
Reportedly, as of June 16 it will be
unlawful and a criminal offence to
practice as a journalist without accreditation
from the commission. At the
same time, however, the act has a transitional
provision which states that any
journalist who was accredited before
the act’s coming into operation shall
be deemed to be accredited for the remainder
of the year.
Minister of State for Information
and Publicity Jonathan Moyo said in
his opposing papers that it was incorrect
to state that the journalists would
be stripped of their rights on that date.
“Any journalist who was accredited
before 15 March 2002 shall remain
accredited for the remainder of the year
2002. It is therefore denied that any
journalist who is not accredited by 16
June 2002, risks arrest unless this matter
is heard urgently. The applicants’
rights will not be affected until 31
December 2002, when their press
cards expire,” Moyo said.
The Minister added that regulations
relating to registration and accreditation
of journalists were in the process
of being drafted. “I am therefore firm
in my belief that applicants’ rights are
not in immediate question or danger.
In the circumstances, I maintain there’s
So This Is Democracy? 225