MEDIA ALERT

1 NOVEMBER 2002

DATE TO CHALLENGE THE MEDIA LAW SET

INDEPENDENT Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (IJAZ) lawyers told the
Zimbabwe Independent that a Supreme Court hearing of the case in which
journalists are challenging the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA) would open on 21 November.

On the same date, all journalists are expected to have lodged their
applications for them to be accredited by the statutory Media and
Information Commission.

IJAZ took the Minister of State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo
to court in August to challenge sections of AIPPA that the journalists say
are unconstitutional, including the powers of the Media and Information
Commission to compel journalists to register on a yearly basis.

Zimbabwean media practitioners are also challenging Section 80 under which
about 11 journalists from the private media have been arrested.

The challenge to the media law covers key sections such as the abuse of
journalistic privilege, publishing falsehoods and the registration of
journalists by the government-run commission.

The government last month gazetted a Bill to amend some sections of the
media legislation, which the journalists' union is challenging. To date, it
is not clear whether or not the case will be heard if Parliament passes the
Bill.

On 12 November, Parliament will resume sitting, two days before the national
budget is tabled. Moyo's move to amend AIPPA has been widely seen as an
attempt to pre-empt the journalists' constitutional challenge to his
fundamentally flawed law. Moyo intends to clarify vague terms such as "abuse
of journalistic privilege", writing of falsehoods, the powers of the Media
and Information Commission and that media houses should be registered.

The amended Bill now seeks to deal with journalists who "intentionally or
recklessly falsify information and (who) maliciously or fraudulently
fabricate information."

END

Rashweat Mukundu
Research and Information Officer
MISA-Zimbabwe
221 Fife Ave
Box HR 8113
Harare
Zimbabwe

Phone: 00 263 4 721 841, 735 441-2
Cell : 00 263 4 011 602 685
E mail: [email protected]