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Alert

Media defence groups condemn Hefer ruling

(MISA/FXI/IFEX) - The following is a 16 October 2003 MISA-South Africa, FXI and South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) joint statement:

Media defence groups condemn Hefer ruling

BLOEMFONTEIN: The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef), the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) and the South Africa Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-SA) have expressed disappointment at Hefer Commission chairman Justice Joos Hefer's ruling that former Sunday Times reporter Ranjeni Munusamy will have to testify before the commission. She was subpoenaed to give evidence to the commission about her story that the African National Congress (ANC) investigated National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka as an apartheid government spy. The judge ignored a substantive argument from the three organizations this morning, which stated that media freedom and journalists' lives would be in danger if they were forced to testify and identify their sources.

The group's submission spelled out how informants in the public and private sector who want to blow the whistle on crime, corruption and misdemeanours, but prefer to report to the media rather than the authorities, would refrain from doing so. This type of information, which generally requires journalists to maintain the confidentiality of their sources, would dry up if they were perceived to be informers for the police and the authorities. This would cut off essential information channels for the media.

The organisations were shocked that the judge ignored an affidavit presented by Munusamy to the commission, in which she claimed that her life had been threatened by some of her sources. Munusamy's lawyers are taking the judge's decision to the High Court for review. MISA-SA, FXI and Sanef support, in principle, the decision to take the case to the High Court and will meet to discuss ways to support Munusamy's case. The judge's decision is a serious blow to media freedom because it places journalists at risk and erodes media freedom.