US embassy cable - 02HARARE1729

UNCLAS HARARE 001729 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT- EDITOR SUES INFORMATION MINISTER; 
HARARE 
 
 
  1.   Geoff Nyarota, Editor-in-Chief of the independent 
      daily "The Daily News," has filed a Z$6 million lawsuit 
      against Information and Publicity Minister Professor 
      Jonathan Moyo for defamation.  Nyarota has also slapped the 
      editor of the government-controlled daily "The Herald," 
      Pikirayi Deketeke, with a similar lawsuit for publishing a 
      defamatory article.  Nyarota argues that the article in 
      question, which appeared in the June 7, 2002 edition of The 
      Herald under headline "Moyo files lawsuit against Sikhala, 
      Daily News," is insulting. 
 
  2.   The matter arose after The Daily News first published 
      a story detailing court testimony in which opposition 
      Member of Parliament Job Sikhala alleged that Minister Moyo 
      had a homosexual relationship with former Zimbabwe 
      Broadcasting Corporation Chief Executive Officer, Alum 
      Mpofu.  Minister Moyo rebutted the controversial Daily News 
      story in The Herald on June 7.  Moyo is quoted in the 
      Herald story saying: "Nyarota is a disgraceful pervert 
      whose indecency and vulgarity has gone too far, all in a 
      morally corrupt crusade to win dubious international media 
      awards."  In his papers filed with the High court, Nyarota 
      said that the article suggested that he is an 
      "unprincipled, unscrupulous, and unprofessional man who 
      would do anything to win an award." 
 
SULLIVAN