Back to Index

Government coughs up Z$24m to tortured journalists
Zim-Online
February 21, 2005

http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=9104

HARARE – The Zimbabwe government has paid Z$24 million in an out of court settlement to two journalists illegally arrested and tortured by the army after publishing a story alleging that some senior military officers had plotted a coup.

According to documents shown to ZimOnline last night, the money was paid out on a state cheque number 0370305. Of the total sum, $4 166 730 was paid to the estate of the late Mark Chavunduka who was editor of The Standard weekly newspaper which published the story in its 10-16 January 1999 issue.

The paper’s then chief writer, Ray Choto, who wrote the coup story, received $3 206 730.

The remaining $16 626 540 is the equivalent of 1 558.29 pounds converted at an exchange rate of $10 765 per pound as at January 10, 2005. The money was paid to cover medical expenses incurred by the two journalists when they went for treatment mostly in Britain for injuries suffered during torture sessions.

A Ministry of Defence senior official K. K Chivinge wrote to the civil division of the Attorney General's office on February 7 this year advising the office of the payment to the journalists who had filed for damages against the state for torture by its agents.

Chivinge did not give reasons why the Defence Ministry, which has maintained that the two journalists were never tortured, was opting for an out of court settlement.

But sources said the state was unwilling to have the matter argued in an open court for fear more information potentially compromising to state security could be revealed in such a court.

"The state was not willing to have the publicity that may characterise the court session," said one government official, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation.

In the story titled "Senior army officers arrested", The Standard claimed that 23 senior officers of the Zimbabwe National Army had been arrested for plotting to topple President Robert Mugabe and his government.

The paper, which quoted unnamed military sources, said the army officers had wanted to overthrow the government because they were unhappy with the mismanagement of Zimbabwe’s economy and Mugabe’s 1998 decision to send the army to fight in the Democratic of the Congo in support of that country’s government against an armed rebellion.

Chavunduka was arrested by army details on 12 January 1999 and kept in the army’s custody until 21 January, despite several court orders to release him. Under the law, Zimbabwe’s army does not arrest or detain civilians. Torture is also outlawed in Zimbabwe.

Choto handed himself over to the police on 19 January but was promptly handed over to the army which also detained him against court orders.

The two journalists, who had to receive special treatment after being tortured by the army, were later charged by the state with breaching Section 50 (2) (a) of the old Law and Order (Maintenance) Act.

Under the law, inherited from white supremacist Ian Smith’s repressive Rhodesian (Zimbabwe’s name before independence) government, it was an offence to publish false information that could cause public fear, alarm or despondency. Offenders could be jailed for up to seven years.

But the then Supreme Court Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay and his bench threw out the state’s case in September 2000 saying the legislation under which the journalists were being charged contravened Section 20 of Zimbabwe’s Constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression. - ZimOnline

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP