US embassy cable - 04HARARE174

UNCLAS HARARE 000174 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S FOR S. DELISI, L. AROIAN, M. RAYNOR 
AF/PD FOR D. FOLEY, C. DALTON 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER, D. TEITELBAUM 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.  O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KPAO, ZI, Media and Communications 
SUBJECT: COURT CONSOLIDATES GOZ APPEAL AND DAILY NEWS 
CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE, DEFERS DECISION 
 
REF: (A) HARARE 128 (B) HARARE 61 AND PREVIOUS 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY: After two days of hearings, Supreme Court 
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku on January 28 consolidated 
the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe's (ANZ, parent company 
of The Daily News) and the Media and Information 
Commission's (MIC) appeal of lower court decisions 
permitting publication of The Daily News (TDN). 
Chidyausiku deferred decision until January 30 on the GOZ's 
application for an order prohibiting publication of TDN 
pending resolution of other matters, and scheduled a 
purportedly final hearing for February 18 on constitutional 
and other disposative issues.  END SUMMARY 
 
2.  (U) Lawyers for the GOZ's Media and Information 
Commission (MIC) presented their case to Justice Chidyausiku 
on January 27.  The MIC sought an order on two issues: (1) 
to consolidate all the Supreme Court applications into one 
action, and (2) to order TDN to cease publication on the 
grounds that it lacked a license.  ANZ attorney Mordecai 
Mahlungu told the embassy on January 28 that both parties 
agreed to consolidate the matters into one Supreme Court 
case. 
 
3.  (U) On January 28, Justice Chidyausiku agreed to 
consolidate the MIC appeal from the Administrative Court as 
well as the constitutional challenge brought by the ANZ.  On 
September 11, 2003, the Supreme Court had refused to hear 
the ANZ constitutional challenge (reftels), ordering that 
the ANZ apply for registration before they could challenge 
the constitutionality of the Access to Information and 
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).  ANZ submitted its 
application for registration on September 15 but the MIC 
denied the application 
 
4. (U) With agreement of the parties, Chidyausiku on January 
28 scheduled the case to be heard February 18 in the Supreme 
Court.  The MIC asked Chidyausiku to provide it with an 
order barring the Daily News from publishing until the 
matter was resolved on February 18.  ANZ attorneys opposed 
this application and Chidyausiku agreed to allow them to 
file opposing briefs by January 30. 
 
5. (SBU) The government-controlled Herald's January 29 
edition reported the resignation and departure to South 
Africa of Administrative Court Judge Michael Majuru. 
Sitting on an earlier iteration of the ANZ case in November, 
Majuru had supported the legal position of the ANZ but 
recused himself following government media allegations of 
improper favoritism and the reported commencement of an 
investigation against him.  In a related development, 
principals of the weeklies Independent and Standard recently 
confided to emboffs that they feared GOZ-ordered closure of 
their publications within weeks. 
 
6.  (SBU) COMMENT: The Herald's front page treatment of 
Majuru's removal from the scene evinces the GOZ's continuing 
designs against the independence of both the judiciary and 
the press.  While the demise of the Independent and Standard 
may not prove as imminent as feared by some, it seems clear 
that the GOZ's war on the independent media will not end on 
January 30 or February 18, regardless of how the Chief 
Justice decides the issues before him.