US embassy cable - 02HARARE952

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Identifier:	02HARARE952
Wikileaks:	View 02HARARE952 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Harare
Created:	2002-04-19 11:38:00
Classification:	UNCLASSIFIED
Tags:	ZI PREL PHUM
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

UNCLAS HARARE 000952 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/PD FOR COX AND ROBERTSON, AF/S FOR KRAFT AND SCHLACHTER, 
AF/RA FOR SWANN, INR/R/MR, NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ZI, PREL, PHUM 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT EDITOR ARRESTED; HARARE 
 
 
Geoff Nyarota, Editor-in-Chief of Zimbabwe's only 
independent daily "The Daily News," was picked up by the 
police on April 15 on allegations of publishing a false 
news item on the outcome of the disputed March 2002 
presidential poll.  Nyarota was taken to the Harare Central 
Police Station where the police recorded a warned and 
cautioned statement from him before releasing him on the 
same day.  According to the lead article in the April 16 
edition of the "Daily News," Nyarota will be charged under 
the newly enacted Access to Information and Protection of 
Privacy Act for having falsified information on the outcome 
of the presidential results.  Last Wednesday (April 10) the 
"Daily News" carried a story accusing the Registrar-General 
Tobaiwa Mudede of announcing different presidential results 
on the national broadcasting station, ZTV, and in other 
media.  The paper carried the offending story under the 
headline "Mudede Tape proves Mugabe lost election."  If 
found guilty, Nyarota will be liable, according to the Act, 
to a fine not exceeding Z$100,000 or to imprisonment for a 
period not exceeding two years. 
 
WHITEHEAD