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Alert

Police defy High Court ruling allowing "The Daily News" newspaper to reopen

(MISA/IFEX) - Zimbabwean police have defied a High Court ruling granted on 18 September 2003, which ordered that "The Daily News" newspaper be allowed to reopen.

Armed police officers have remained inside "The Daily News" premises and prevented staff from accessing the offices. The police have also defied the High Court by refusing to return "The Daily News"' computers and other equipment they confiscated, allegedly to use as exhibits in court to show that the paper was operating illegally.

In his 18 September ruling, High Court Judge Younis Omerjee said the police must return all the equipment they seized. He added that the police had no right to bar the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of "The Daily News", from carrying out their business. "The provisional order sought is granted in terms of the draft order filed on record," said Judge Omerjee.

Omerjee said it was not the order of the Supreme Court that made the ANZ an illegal operator. He said the Supreme Court had merely declared that the newspaper was acting outside the law. "In view of the clear and unambiguous wording of section 8 (2) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the respondent (police) have no legal right to prevent the applicant and its employees from gaining access to the premises and carry out its business of publishing a newspaper," he said.

The judge noted that the ANZ started operating within the law from the day it lodged its registration application with the Media and Information Commission. He added that the seizure of "The Daily News"' equipment could only be done after the paper was convicted in a court of law.

The ANZ, which was represented by advocate Adrian de Bourbon, argued that the police had acted unlawfully when they evicted workers. De Bourbon said the confiscation of equipment was a breach of the law, as no warrant had been granted. "I know of no law that allows the police to behave in such an abominable manner like this," said de Bourbon.

De Bourbon said the ANZ must be allowed to continue operating until the time its registration is considered. The Attorney General's Office, representing the state, argued that the ANZ had breached the law by continuing to print when the Supreme Court had pronounced its activities to be illegal. Acting Attorney General Bharat Patel said the state would appeal the High Court ruling in the Supreme Court.