Zimbabwe: Journalists summoned to appear in court


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Zimbabwe: Journalists summoned to appear in court

Four journalists with the weekly Standard newspaper have been summoned to appear in court on 6 May 2010 as state witnesses in the criminal defamation case against Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and eight councillors on allegations of defaming businessman Philip Chiyangwa.

According to the Standard’s edition of 25 April to 1 May 2010, the journalists in question are Zimbabwe Independent editor- in- chief Vincent Kahiya, Standard editor Nevanji Madanhire and reporters Feluna Nleya and Jennifer Dube.

The charges arise from the publication of a story exposing an alleged massive land scandal involving the Minister of Local Government Ignatius Chombo and Chiyangwa. The story carried in the weekly’s edition of 28 March to 3 April 2010 revealed that a special Harare council committee investigating the allocation of land had recommended that Chiyangwa should be arrested for alleged corruption.

The story was based on a 54-page report titled: Special Investigations Committees report on City of Harare’s Land Sales, Leases and Exchanges from the period October 2004 to December 2009.

The state alleges that the mayor and the councillors defamed Chiyangwa by leaking the report whose contents were published by the Standard and Sunday Times of South Africa before it was debated by the full council.

Background

On 30 March 2010 police also questioned freelance journalist Stanley Gama following publication of a related story in the Zimbabwean edition of The Sunday Times.

Source: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

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