Alert Update

November 24, 2004

"Dira" newspaper will remain closed despite High Court Ruling

* The following is an update of MISA Alerts issued between November 24, 25 and December 9, 2003. See www.misa.org for more information

On November 24 2004, the High Court of Tanzania, in Zanzibar, delivered its ruling on the long awaited case launched by the 'Dira' newspaper management team to challenge the Act used to close the only independent weekly in the Isles.

According to sources from Zanzibar, the paper will remain closed because the High Court ruling has discovered that it violated registration procedures.

"The result is zero-zero," Sports Editor of the then Dira newspaper, who is also BBC Kiswahili Correspondent in Zanzibar, Ally Saleh, told the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Tanzania in a telephone interview soon after the High Court's ruling.

According to Saleh, the High Court Judge, Mshibe Ali Bakari, indicated that both ‘Dira’ and the government violated rules and laws in the operation and subsequent closure of the newspaper. While the minister responsible for information exercised too much power to close the paper, the publication operated illegally in the island as it violated registration procedures.

Saleh said that the paper’s management committee will meet to discuss the possibility of taking the case to the Court of Appeal because they are confident that their publication was legally registered and was operating according to the rules and principles guiding newspapers in the semi-autonomous island.

"The issue of registration has never been raised during our operation. It was raised today by the High Court. We must sit down and chart a way forward to take the matter to the Court of Appeal," he said.

The newspaper is challenging the government's closure imposed in 2003 for allegedly contravening journalism ethics .

The publication under its Managing Editor, Mr. Ali Mohamed Nabwa, the former press secretary to the Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, the late Dr. Omar Ali Juma, argued that the closure was aimed at muzzling the paper from disseminating information to the public. It has been argued that the Minister had not acted fairly on the matter, and, in fact, the action had political motives.

BACKGROUND

On November 24 2003, the Zanzibar government suspended "Dira", which is published by the Zanzibar International Media Company (ZIMCO). The government alleged that the newspaper had violated "professional ethics".

Salum Juma Othman, the minister of state in the Chief Minister's Office, said that, under the suspension, the company was not allowed to publish, circulate or republish any previous issues of the newspaper in any part of the United Republic of Tanzania until further notice.

The minister said he was suspending the paper in exercise of the powers conferred upon him under subsection (1) of Section 30 of the Zanzibar Registration of Newsagents, Newspapers and Books Acts no. 5 of 1988.

On November 28 2003, however, the Zanzibar government banned "Dira" for allegedly continuing to violate "professional ethics". On 28 November, Othman said that the government had decided to ban the newspaper because it has allegedly been fomenting hatred between the government and the public.

Ends