US embassy cable - 04HARARE988

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000988 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/PDPA/DALTON AND FOR AF/S/MRAYNOR 
NSC FOR AFRICA DIRECTOR D. TEITELBAUM 
LONDON FOR CGURNEY 
PARIS FOR CNEARY 
NAIROBI FOR TPFLAUMER 
 
E.  O.  12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KPAO, PHUM, EINV, ZI, Media and Communications 
SUBJECT: GOZ SHUTS DOWN ANOTHER NEWSPAPER, COMMENCES 
PROSECUTION OF ANZ DIRECTORS 
 
REF: HARARE 409 and previous 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY: The Media and Information Commission (MIC) 
on June 10 cancelled the registration of The Tribune 
newspaper (owned by a ruling party MP), purportedly over 
violations of the Access to Information and Protection of 
Privacy Act (AIPPA).  The GOZ on June 9 commenced its 
prosecution of the directors of the parent company of the 
two other newspapers closed by the GOZ in September. 
 
Tribune Closed Down 
------------------- 
 
2.  (U) Prior to its shut-down by the state-appointed MIC, 
The Tribune was an independent weekly owned by a ruling 
party legislator, Mr. Kindness Paradza.  It reportedly will 
remain closed for a year after the MIC accused the paper of 
changing its title, print, and ownership without the 
knowledge of the regulatory body.  Enfeebled by under 
capitalization and poor advertising revenues, the 
newspaper's publishers - a consortium of indigenous 
businessmen - have vowed to challenge the closure in court. 
 
3. (U) The Tribune was launched on June 1, 2002, 
publishing a business edition on Thursdays and a general 
edition on Fridays.  It merged the two into a weekly that 
had published articles critical of GOZ human rights abuses 
and corruption while espousing socialist, redistributive 
economic policies. 
 
4.  (U) In his maiden speech in Parliament, Paradza had 
raised eyebrows by blasting AIPPA and GOZ media policies in 
n 
tones uncharacteristically harsh for a ruling party MP. 
Earlier this year, he traveled to the United Kingdom, 
ostensibly to raise financial backers for his newspaper. 
 
5.  (U) In its June 12 front page article headlined "Expel 
Paradza", the state-controlled Herald reported on a 
provincial disciplinary committee's recommendations for 
Paradza's expulsion from the party.  The committee 
reportedly charged, among other things, that Paradza had 
worked with the ANZ press and conducted interviews with 
(VOA-produced) Studio 7, a critical radio station that 
broadcasts negatively against the party and Government of 
Zimbabwe."  The committee alleged further that he had been 
disrespectful of the party, the President, and Information 
Minister Jonathan Moyo, and had been critical of GOZ 
policy, notably AIPPA.  In addition, he had "established a 
trail of destablization by fanning disunity, demonizing 
leaders, and provoking youths to riot against leaders." 
Provincial party chairman Philip Chiyangwa reportedly 
declared that he was already preparing to select candidates 
to replace Paradza in a by-election. 
 
6. (U) Two media watchdogs, the Media Institute of 
Southern Africa (MISA) and the Media Monitoring Project 
Zimbabwe (MMPZ), jointly condemned "the cynical and 
unconstitutional" closure of the "Tribune" newspaper, 
calling it an "onslaught against free expression."  The 
condemnation summed up: "Instead of helping to secure the 
development of the media and promoting the free flow of 
information, MIC is busy curtailing any critical discourse 
in the media industry.  MISA and MMPZ view the closure of 
the paper as a vindictive and premeditated decision to shut 
alternative voices in the Zimbabwe media industry ahead of 
next year's parliamentary elections." 
 
Daily News Directors' AIPPA Trial Underway 
------------------------------------------ 
 
7.  (U) The Tribune becomes the third independent newspaper 
to be banned within a year.  Associated Newspapers of 
Zimbabwe's (ANZ) The "Daily News" and its sister weekly 
"The Daily News on Sunday" were forcibly shut down last 
September by a police raid.  The raid took place one day 
after the Supreme Court, observing that the publications 
had yet to register under AIPPA, declined to rule on the 
newspapers' claim that AIPPA was unconstitutional. 
 
8.  (U) The trial of ANZ and its four directors over 
alleged violations of AIPPA and contempt of court commenced 
on June 9.  The case stems from the publication of an issue 
of The Daily News in October following an Administrative 
Court decision in ANZ's favor.  The MIC asserted that the 
decision would only have permitted publication after 
November 30, when the decision said ANZ's registration 
would be deemed effective if the MIC failed to register it. 
9.  (SBU) ANZ counsel told poloff on June 14 that the court 
has adjourned and is not scheduled to reconvene on the case 
until July 12.  She reported that the prosecution was 
"winging it" and had yet to submit a full list of 
witnesses.  She noted that the individual defendants each 
faced a fine of USD 56 and/or up to two years in prison. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
10. (SBU) The GOZ's no-holds-barred war against all 
independent information sources shows no signs of abating. 
Paradza's demonization demonstrates once again that the 
ruling party often is harder on critics inside its family 
than on those outside.  It further underscores the hazards 
of fraternization with the enemy: Paradza was publicly 
fingered as a party enemy not after criticizing AIPPA 
(other ZANU-PF members had as well) but after traveling to 
the UK.  Finally, Paradza's straits underscore the 
continuing dominance of Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, 
who increasingly is targeting ruling party colleagues and 
fueling witch-hunt atmospherics within the party. 
Chiyangwa's action against Paradza is both ironic and 
instructive on the ephemeral nature of success and failure 
within the party: he has been relatively rehabilitated 
(albeit chastened) after spending weeks in jail as the 
first victim of the GOZ's ongoing corruption campaign.