newsreel160609
MDC Director-General Shonhe detained for perjury
By Violet Gonda
16 June 2009
By Violet Gonda
16 June 2009
MDC Director General, Toendepi Shonhe was arrested on Tuesday on perjury charges in connection with the case of the three MDC activists Lloyd Tarumbwa, Fani Tembo and Terry Musona who were ‘taken’ by the state agents from their homes in Banket two weeks ago for interviews at the Attorney General’s Office. They are among the group of MDC activists abducted from their homes in Mashonaland West last year, and were kept incommunicado for several months.
The MDC CEO is accused of lying under oath when he swore to an affidavit that the three members of the MDC had been re-abducted two weeks ago by State security agents. He is being charged under the Criminal Law Act.
However, MDC Director of Information Luke Tamborinyoka told SW Radio Africa that these are trumped up charges, saying Shonhe wrote the affidavit to try to make a High Court interdict stopping the Attorney General’s Office from using the three people who had been re-abducted, as state witnesses.
Tamborinyoka said: “If the court wanted to subpoena these people to act as State witnesses it was supposed to do this civilly. You don’t just send CIO’s in unmarked vehicles to take people, threaten them, abduct them, bring out guns, and take them to the Attorney General’s office. There is an element of cohesion in this whole thing which means these people were abducted.”
The MDC official said the arrest of the Director General is very worrying especially at a time when Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is trying to engage the international community. He said there are residual elements in ZANU PF who continue to violate people’s rights with impunity. “The MDC is trying to indicate left, ZANU PF here is indicating right – telling the whole world that nothing has changed in Zimbabwe,” Tamborinyoka said.
Tarumbwa, Tembo and Musona, were initially detained for more than four months without being charged. Tamborinyoka said despite being held as ‘so-called state witnesses,’ they were tortured and intimidated during their illegal incarceration. They are being forced to act as state witnesses in the case of another group of MDC activists who were accused of plotting to overthrow the Mugabe regime. The three were taken again when a group that includes Concillia Chinanzvavana and 70 year old Fidelis Chiramba were about to appear in court for their trial two weeks ago.
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Parliament resumes sitting as MP’s slam slow pace of reforms
By Lance Guma
16 June 2009
By Lance Guma
16 June 2009
Parliament resumed sitting Tuesday with several MP’s slamming the slow pace of reforms by the country’s coalition government. Mbizo legislator Settlement Chikwinya moved a motion decrying the lack of any meaningful progress in opening up the media. He called on the Executive arm of government to comply with the provisions of the Global Political Agreement signed by both ZANU PF and the MDC which calls for independent players to operate in the media environment.
Chikwinya also took a swipe at Information Minister Webster Shamu for failing to comply with a High Court that barred him from interfering with journalists who wanted to cover the recent COMESA summit. The court ruled that the Media and Information Commission was now defunct and no journalist should have to be accredited by the body. Shamu however ignored this and went on to give a list of accredited journalists to security details manning the conference venue. The journalists who refused to accredit with the defunct MIC were eventually barred from the summit, despite the court order.
The motion by the MP also raised concerns about the continued abuse of the State media by ZANU PF. Chikwinya is calling on the Standing Rules and Orders Committee and the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity to constitute the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which ‘should start granting licenses to other players by 6 August 2009.’
Makoni West MP Webber Chinyadza also moved a motion in parliament criticising the lack of development in the rural areas. Both his and Chikwinya’s motion will be debated on Wednesday. Another motion already previously debated but adopted Tuesday was that of Nyanga North MP Douglas Mwonzora. He is calling for a transparent system of distributing inputs to disadvantaged rural farmers. In the past army officers and ZANU PF officials have been manipulating the system to reward their supporters. Mwonzora is suggesting that elected officials should oversee the process.
Newsreel spoke to MDC Chief Whip Innocent Gonese and asked him why parliamentary sessions were few and far in between. He said this was because there was no government business coming to parliament. ‘The sitting schedule of parliament depends on government business,’ he told us. He said this is why the MDC at its annual national conference criticized the slow pace of reforms. Gonese said parliament’s main business is the crafting of laws yet they were mainly debating motions. He said they hoped the next session of parliament will start repealing repressive legislation.
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ZimInd editors challenge constitutionality of Criminal Law
By Staff reporter
16 June 2009
Zimbabwe Independent editors, Vincent Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure on Tuesday appeared before magistrate Moses Murendo applying for a referral to the Supreme Court where they seek to challenge the constitutionality of section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which they are charged under.
Media watchdog, Misa-Zimbabwe, reports the two appeared along with Michael Curling who is representing the Zimbabwe Independent. The matter has however been postponed to 9 July to enable the prosecution to file its response.
Their lawyer Innocent Chagonda asked the magistrate for a referral to the Supreme Court stating that section 31 of the Criminal Codification Act, which attracts a maximum sentence of 20 years, is unconstitutional. The defence team say the penalty of a 20 year sentence imposed by section 31 is so heavy and disproportionate to the offence that it infringes section 20 of the bill of rights. Section 20 of the constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees the right to freedom of expression.
Chagonda also filed a second application in which he wants the Supreme Court to determine whether two law officers from the Attorney General’s Office, namely Michael Mugabe and Morgan Dube, cited as State witnesses, can act as both complainants and prosecutors at the same time in the case.
Chimakure and Kahiya are being charged for the publishing or communicating of falsehoods when they published a story in May revealing the names of law enforcement agents involved in last year’s abductions of MDC and civic activists.
The story titled, Activist abductors named – CIO, police role in activists’ abduction revealed, stated that notices of indictment for trial in the High Court served on some of the activists revealed that the activists were either in the custody of the CIO or police during the period they were reported missing.
The Media watchdog said in a statement: “The two journalists submitted that as journalists, the very nature of their job obliges them to write on a regular basis, a task which they cannot safely or efficiently execute if they live in constant fear of arrest for their writings. This is a hindrance to free expression and it therefore violates the Constitution, the journalists argue.”
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MP says no room for ‘media hangmen’ in new commission
By Alex Bell
16 June 2009
By Alex Bell
16 June 2009
The Chair of the Parliamentary select committee on the media on Monday made a verbal stand against the inclusion of ‘media hangmen’ in the Zimbabwe Information Commission, saying the government will not allow the likes of Jonathan Moyo or Tafataona Mahoso to be involved.
Tongai Matutu, the urban legislator in Masvingo, told a news briefing that Moyo and Mahoso are responsible for the dire state that Zimbabwean media is in because of their records of stifling media freedom. He told journalists there would be no place for either of them on the new media regulatory board.
Moyo, who is the controversial former Minister of Information and Publicity, was the architect of the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). He presided over the closure of independent newspapers such as The Daily News and The Tribune through the now defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC), which in turn was headed by Mahoso.
“We are not going to allow media hangmen to find themselves on the new commission,” said Matutu.
“The likes of Moyo and Mahoso will not be considered for any post because they are responsible for the mess in which we are,” he added.
The High Court has already ruled that the MIC is now null and void, but in a sign that media reform is still a long way off in Zimbabwe, a group of journalists were turned away from the opening of the Comesa summit earlier this month. The four, who won a landmark case against the government on the legality of the MIC, were refused entry to the event for not having accreditation, despite the High Court order declaring the MIC illegal being granted two days before.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered in Harare on Saturday for a concert aimed at raising awareness about the importance of freedom of expression and freeing the airwaves in Zimbabwe. The event was hosted by the Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe chapter (MISA Zimbabwe) in conjunction with Artists for Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust (ADZ Trust), Savanna Trust and Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights. The ‘Free Our Airwaves’ concert was attended by more than 500 people who came together under the theme: ‘freedom of expression + access to information = people empowerment.’
During the event ADZ Trust national Coordinator, Felix Machiridza, called on the inclusive government to open the airwaves and allow community radio stations to operate so as to allow ‘diverging and converging views to gain access in the media.’ Machiridza emphasised the need to have an alternative voice in the media and he highlighted that Zimbabweans are tired of being exposed to what he referred to as the ‘one and only media choice,’ which is the ZBC.
Moyo, who is the controversial former Minister of Information and Publicity, was the architect of the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). He presided over the closure of independent newspapers such as The Daily News and The Tribune through the now defunct Media and Information Commission (MIC), which in turn was headed by Mahoso.
“We are not going to allow media hangmen to find themselves on the new commission,” said Matutu.
“The likes of Moyo and Mahoso will not be considered for any post because they are responsible for the mess in which we are,” he added.
The High Court has already ruled that the MIC is now null and void, but in a sign that media reform is still a long way off in Zimbabwe, a group of journalists were turned away from the opening of the Comesa summit earlier this month. The four, who won a landmark case against the government on the legality of the MIC, were refused entry to the event for not having accreditation, despite the High Court order declaring the MIC illegal being granted two days before.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered in Harare on Saturday for a concert aimed at raising awareness about the importance of freedom of expression and freeing the airwaves in Zimbabwe. The event was hosted by the Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe chapter (MISA Zimbabwe) in conjunction with Artists for Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust (ADZ Trust), Savanna Trust and Zimbabwe Poets for Human Rights. The ‘Free Our Airwaves’ concert was attended by more than 500 people who came together under the theme: ‘freedom of expression + access to information = people empowerment.’
During the event ADZ Trust national Coordinator, Felix Machiridza, called on the inclusive government to open the airwaves and allow community radio stations to operate so as to allow ‘diverging and converging views to gain access in the media.’ Machiridza emphasised the need to have an alternative voice in the media and he highlighted that Zimbabweans are tired of being exposed to what he referred to as the ‘one and only media choice,’ which is the ZBC.
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Tsvangirai addresses Swedish parliament
By Tichaona Sibanda
16 June 2009
By Tichaona Sibanda
16 June 2009
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai capped off a busy two day visit to Sweden on Tuesday by addressing the Swedish parliament in Stockholm.
James Maridadi, spokesman for Tsvangirai told us the Prime Minister had spent a busy 48 hours in the Swedish capital. Apart from his address to parliament, Tsvangirai also had talks with the Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
In the morning he had a private audience with the crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and also held talks with the Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt. According to Maridadi, the highlight of Tsvangirai’s visit was his meeting with Prime Minister Reinfeldt. The Swedish PM told journalists that increased democracy in Zimbabwe will be a priority for the European Union when his country takes over the bloc’s leadership from the 1st of July.
Reinfeldt said the EU wants to halt political violence in Zimbabwe and increase the responsibility for human rights and democracy. The Swedish Prime Minister said he saw positive signs in the country but did not offer any aid; rather, he urged the inclusive government to push through economic and political reforms.
‘Politically motivated violence needs to be stopped, the rule of law and the freedom of media must be established,’ Reinfeldt said.
In response Tsvangirai said the country was ‘on the road’ to democracy and that further reforms were needed to provide political stability.
‘We are making a case for reengagement because we as Zimbabweans have decided, not for the sake of the international community but for our own sake, that we need the freedoms, the reforms and we need economic recovery, whether President Mugabe is there or not,’ Tsvangirai said.
Dewa Mavhinga, a human rights lawyer said the new government must demonstrate to the world that they are on an irreversible path to democracy.
‘What is worrying us is that the West is telling the leaders of Zimbabwe to reform. These calls should be coming from Zimbabwe, and not from outsiders to champion the human rights cause in the country,’ Mavhinga said.
‘We are still lagging behind in terms of all tenets of democracy. Nothing has changed on the ground and we are still a long way back. We need wide-spread reforms, changes to the army, police, media and judiciary,’ Mavhinga added.
Tsvangirai was in Sweden as part of an international tour to secure pledges for economic aid and was due to visit Oslo, Norway on Tuesday night.
So far, western donors have said aid will only begin to flow when a democracy is created, and economic reforms are implemented. Aid is now slowly beginning to trickle into aid agencies, bypassing the government. Germany pledged $30million on Monday, and U.S. President Barack Obama promised last week to give $73 million to help fight AIDS and promote good governance.
