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Media in the Line of Fire Where is justice? By Isabella Matambanadzo Radio Voice of the People Radio Voice Beatrice Mtetwa green police truck, whose colour has evap- He turns his eyes to VOP’s lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa orated from years of operating under for directions. With a knowing gesture, she reaches for her Zimbabwe’s sunshine rolls past, sputtering face and gently nudges her black rimmed glasses back into in its wake a dusty mix of red earth and place. “But as my learned friend knows your Worship, this diesel fumes. matter was confirmed as proceeding as late as yesterday. I AThe driver’s arms are strained taut as he struggles to personally checked with my learned friend’s office and it balance his unwieldy load. He brings the vehicle to a was agreed that we would be going ahead with the trial.” growling halt on the slope of the gates leading to the hold- Mtetwa has been – for the last decade or so – defend- ing cells of the Harare Magistrate’s Court at Rotten Row, ing the rights and freedoms of journalists in Zimbabwe. a ring of a building that squats on the fringes of the inner One of her most widely followed cases was that of city business zone of Zimbabwe’s capital. Andrew Meldrum, an American journalist, who fell victim Young armed guards in crisp uniforms spring over the to obnoxious media regulation laws introduced by former back of the truck, their morning breath steaming into a fog information minister Jonathan Moyo. Meldrum was against the winter chill. Their cargo emerges: barefoot expelled from Zimbabwe in May 2003 after 23 years as a prisoners walk like mismatched twins shackled together at correspondent for the British Guardian newspaper. the ankles, coming before the courts. It’s June 15, 2006. In 2005, the New York-based media rights campaign In Courtroom number 4, the Magistrate listens to group, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), awarded arguments in the case of a car thief. Then the case of some Mtetwa their 2005 Press Freedom Award, an honour very men involved in a housebreaking matter comes to the fore. rarely bestowed upon non-journalists. And today it is easy Finally the court calls for David Masunda, Chairperson of to see why more than three years ago Meldrum said Mtetwa Radio Voice of the People (VOP). was a “fearless lawyer” defending “freedom of the press The public prosecutor leaps from his rickety chair, and the rule of law in Zimbabwe under the most difficult “This matter has been postponed your Worship”, he and dangerous of conditions.” Hearing her voice defend informs the court. Stumped, Masunda stops walking to the you only makes his words ring that much more true. dock and stands suspended in the middle of the court room “This matter cannot be further postponed your like a puppet controlled by powers pulling invisible Worship. My clients have been on remand since January strings. and this is quite prejudicial to them,” asserts Mtetwa. But 58 Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa Media in the Line of Fire the Magistrate is bewildered. Before her is a separate file “How did it get like this?” I ask myself, taking my for John Masuku, the Executive Director of VOP. She mind back to all the modules of media law we gobbled up can’t seem to understand why the same case has separate ahead of final term exams at Rhodes University in the documentation. Not being able to make head or tail of 1990s. I could not recall a case as absurd and frankly as whether there is a particular act in the VOP drama, she irritating as this one. “Bella, this is persecution for sure”, calls for a recess. The matter is redirected to Court Room whispers Arnold Tsunga as if he could magically hear my number 1. inner voice. Tsunga is the Executive Director of The lawyers grin at each other in a code of approval. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), a profes- Magistrate Billa who presides sional association of lawyers over Courtroom number 1 has interested in promoting a cul- a reputation for upholding the “The police had a warrant for the ture of human rights in law and respecting judicial Zimbabwe through various procedure. His courtroom seizure of radio broadcasting means. Litigation is one of sends out the same air of effi- their strategies. Their mem- ciency and seriousness of communication equipment and its bers have packed the court- business. The audio recording room and so sound is their equipment is in full function. associated accessories to include: standing across the region that A young man in headphones they have managed to fusses over the voice record- computer hardware, software and mobilise a network of highly ing levels, moving micro- regarded African and interna- phones and quickly labeling any documents related to the tional trial observers. cassettes. The translator has a In December 2005, very professional demeanor activities of the radio station.” When when plainclothes police offi- about him and is confident of cers raided and ransacked the his words. they could not find any equipment of VOP offices, ZLHR were The VOP team walks into there in a flash. “The police the middle of a case of two that nature they went back to the had a warrant for the seizure women caught in dispute over of radio broadcasting commu- a foreign currency deal gone station and rewrote the warrant to nication equipment and its sour. Then their case is called. associated accessories to The wooden dock is too small say any equipment and materials,” include: computer hardware, to hold all ten of them: Maria software and any documents Nyanyiwa-Mataruse, Takunda Chigwanda and Nyasha related to the activities of the radio station.” When they Bosha, staff members of Radio VOP are the latest addi- could not find any equipment of that nature they went tions to the accused list of John Masuku, and the members back to the station and rewrote the warrant to say any of the Board of Trustees, David Masunda, Arnold Tsunga, equipment and materials,” says Otto Saki of ZLHR’s liti- Lawrence Chibwe, Nhlanhla Ngwenya, Millie Phiri and gation team who was on the scene at the time of the raid. myself. “That’s when they took the three female members of staff, Prosecutor Justin Uladi says the case cannot proceed held them in police cells for four days and released them to trial as programmed because the state’s key witness, without charge.” one Obert Muganyura, the Technical Director of the The VOP staff members were held as “bait” to entice Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) who was due VOP’s Director John Masuku to present himself at the to give evidence had gone to Switzerland. There are police station. When Masuku reported to the police station groans and grunts of disapproval from the room. A hush of on 19 December 2005, he was detained for four days, and respect descends into the room when the Magistrate asks taken to court on 23 December 2005, to answer to charges for a response from VOP’s lawyer. “This is unacceptable,” of contravening Section 27 of the Broadcasting Services Mtetwa tells the court, her voice so assertive it seems to Act. Masuku made bail at Zimbabwe $4 million. come from a public address system hooked up somewhere The festive holidays were an uncertain time for VOP deep within her tiny frame. “Since January the prosecu- staff and Board members, who were unsure what the pre- tion has been telling us, and even yesterday, that they are Christmas arrests were leading to. Everything was revealed ready for trial and we keep getting these postponements.” in January when a renewed spate of home raids and arrests Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa 59 Opening Societies Through Advocacy began. It reads like a diary of well thought out intimidation. close in on all those who are involved in these illegal In the early hours of the morning of 18 January 2006, two activities.” In February, Zimbabwe’s Justice Minister, police officers and one soldier visited the home of VOP Patrick Chinamasa, told security officers from the Trustee, Arnold Tsunga, in Mutare the eastern border town Southern African Development Community (SADC) connecting Zimbabwe to Beira, Mozambique’s trading region who were meeting in Harare that “enemies of the gateway. They ordered Tsunga’s home staff to the police state” were using the private press against Zimbabwe’s station, accusing them of hiding information about Tsunga’s government. He said Zimbabwe’s private press needed whereabouts. They were “urgent reform” because west- released without any charges ern-sponsored journalists are being preferred against them, “distorting the true after the intervention of What do we do when the odds seem Zimbabwean story”, the coun- lawyers. so stacked up against us for wanting try’s justice minister was But that was not the end. reported as saying. “The cur- The next raid took place on the to enjoy quite responsibly our right rent media set-up requires weekend of 21 January 2006, reforms as it permits enemies when Harare police from the to know and share knowledge? of the state to mislead the pub- Law and Order Section arrest- lic to the detriment of the ed Anesu Kamba, a driver at ZLHR, and Charles country’s interests,” state radio also reported. Nyamufukudzwa, a caretaker at same organisation, for Since the introduction of restrictive media laws in allegedly obstructing investigations. When the two said 2002, four independent newspapers have been shut down they knew nothing about the matter the police were refer- and in some instances, their equipment impounded.
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