US embassy cable - 02HARARE1070

UNCLAS HARARE 001070 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/PD FOR COX AND ROBERTSON, AF/S FOR KRAFT AND 
SCHLACHTER, AF/RA FOR DIPALMA, INR/R/MR, NSC FOR 
JENDAYI FRAZER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ZI, PREL, PHUM 
SUBJECT: REPORTERS RELEASED FROM POLICE CUSTODY 
 
 
1.   Two independent "Daily News" reporters, Lloyd 
    Mudiwa and Collin Chiwanza, and a correspondent for the 
    British "Guardian" newspaper, American citizen Andrew 
    Meldrum, were released from police custody on May 2 
    after they were formally charged under a section of the 
    newly enacted Access to Information and Protection of 
    Privacy Act.  The charges stem from the journalists' 
    publication of a story, since discredited, that ZANU-PF 
    supporters had beheaded a 53-year-old woman. 
 
2.   If found guilty of the charges, each of the three 
    reporters faces a maximum fine of 100,000 Zimbabwe 
    dollars (about 1800 US dollars at the official exchange 
    rate) or up to two years imprisonment.  The three are 
    expected to appear in court again on May 3.  Lawyers 
    for the journalists will argue that the case should be 
    dismissed because the law under which they were charged 
    is unconstitutional.  The case is likely to work its 
    way slowly through Zimbabwe's court system. 
 
3.   A May 2 news release from the Zimbabwe chapter of 
    the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), 
    condemned the detention of the three journalists, 
    saying "the suffering, humiliation and intimidation 
    they had experienced far outweighed the offense they 
    were alleged to have committed."  Information Minister 
    Jonathan Moyo said that the three were not journalists 
    but "common criminals," and hailed their arrest as 
    proof that Zimbabwe respects the rule of law. 
 
SULLIVAN