IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT UPDATE - ZIMBABWE

16 May 2005

High Court refuses to accredit "Daily News" journalists

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

**Updates IFEX alerts of 15 March 2005, 22 September, 14 June, 11 and 6
February, 23, 22, 16, 13 and 12 January 2004, and others**

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 12 May 2005 CPJ press release:

ZIMBABWE: High Court refuses to accredit Daily News journalists

New York, May 12, 2005 - Zimbabwe's High Court yesterday dismissed a request
to accredit journalists of the banned Daily News, according to news reports
and CPJ sources. The ruling came more than a year after the newspaper's
owners, Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), filed the application.

The judge said the newspaper's journalists could not be accredited until the
newspaper had been granted registration by the government's Media and
Information Commission (MIC). The MIC has thus far denied such registration.

The Daily News, Zimbabwe's only independent daily, was closed in September
2003 after the Supreme Court ruled that, under the draconian 2002 Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the paper was operating
illegally. AIPPA requires all journalists and media outlets to register with
the MIC. The Daily News initially refused to register and instead launched a
constitutional challenge to the law. On March 14 of this year, the Supreme
Court upheld the AIPPA but ruled that the MIC must reconsider a 2003
decision to deny registration to the Daily News.

ANZ director Sam Sipepa Nkomo told CPJ that the company had filed a new
application with the MIC on March 16, but that at a hearing on May 5, the
MIC had requested new documents. He said these had now been submitted. ANZ
lawyer Mordechai Mahlangu said that the commission had demanded information
beyond the legal requirements.

"This latest ruling makes it clear that this entire legal process is a farce
designed to provide cover for the government's campaign to crush the
independent media," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "We call on the
government to allow the Daily News to resume publication immediately."

A crackdown on the independent press in Zimbabwe that started in 2002 has
included the closure of four newspapers, including the Daily News and the
Daily News on Sunday, as well as the detainment, harassment, and forced
exile of dozens of journalists.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit
http://www.cpj.org

For further information, contact Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford
(x112) at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465
1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail: [email protected], Internet:
http://www.cpj.org/

The information contained in this alert update is the sole responsibility of
CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
CPJ.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: [email protected] general e-mail: [email protected]
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/