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Update
on matter involving Voice of the People trustees
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
September 29, 2006
The much awaited trial of the trustees and employees of the
Voice of the People
Trust (VOP) was set down for 25 September 2006.
On the trial day,
the state applied for a postponement of the matter to the 8th
or the 11th of November 2006, citing that;
- The state needed
more time to further scrutinize the strength of its (state’s)
evidence;
- The state had
"found" more exhibits which it needed to give to the
defence counsel in order avoid "ambushing" the accused
persons during the trial; and
- In the interim,
the state also wanted to consider withdrawing charges against
most of the accused persons if not all of them so that it would
thereafter only prosecute the VOP as a corporate entity with its
own legal status separate from that of its trustees. In such eventuality
the Trustees would then nominate one Trustee to represent VOP
The defence counsel
Mrs. Beatrice Mtetwa successfully opposed the application, arguing
that;
- This was the
third time since 24 January 2006 in which the state has sought
such postponement of the matter citing substantially the same
reasons;
- The court had
endorsed on record on 15 June 2006 that this matter was not going
to be postponed again;
- The defence
has written to the state on a number of occasions emphasizing
that this matter had to proceed on 25 September and that any application
for postponement would be opposed, especially given that some
of the Trustees, Arnold Tsunga and Isabella Matambanadzo were
having to travel from the USA and RSA respectively each time the
matter was needlessly postponed; and
- Any postponement
of the matter imposed hardships on the accused persons as they
will continue to have a trial hanging over their heads and be
very disruptive to their routines.
The Magistrate
dismissed the application for postponement of the matter by the
state stating that "I am in full agreement with the defence
counsel…. This is becoming a circus…Further remand of the accused
persons is refused".
The implication
of Provincial Magistrate Bhila`s ruling is that, the trustees and
employees of the VOP trust are no longer facing prosecution and
need no longer continue their periodic court appearances. The state
has a right to re-institute proceedings and summons the trustees
and the employees of the VOP trust back to court once it puts its
house in order. As the case is one of persecution of human rights
defenders, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) cannot discount
the possibility of such a course of action being taken soon by the
State.
ZLHR has always
argued that the arrests and detention of VOP trustees and employees
was arbitrary and unjustified. The state’s actions are part of the
systematic and sustained persecution of human rights defenders which
is a common practice in dictatorial regimes that are desperate to
evade scrutiny over a deplorable human rights record. ZLHR is concerned
at the ruthlessness in which the government of Zimbabwe has dismantled
the free media in Zimbabwe since the promulgation of the Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act in 2002 and the selective
application of the Broadcasting Services Act. In the past 5 years
more than 5 independent newspapers and 3 independent broadcasters
have been forcibly closed. Hundreds of journalists have been arbitrarily
arrested and detained using these repressive pieces of legislation.
The printing press of the Daily News and the Offices of the VOP
trust have been bombed and reduced to rubble.
ZLHR reminds
the government of Zimbabwe of its obligations in terms of international
human rights law to respect and ensure the right to freedom of expression
and can do no better than to refer to the African Commission on
Human and Peoples Rights which has stated that "Freedom
of expression and information, including the right to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas, either orally, in writing or in
print, in the form of art, or through any other form of communication,
including across frontiers, is a fundamental and inalienable human
right and an indispensable component of democracy.. A State
monopoly over broadcasting is not compatible with the right to freedom
of expression…The broadcast regulatory system shall encourage private
and community broadcasting."
Background
Information
The trustees of the Voice of the People presented themselves at
the Law and Order section of the Harare Central police station Harare,
Zimbabwe at 08h00 on Tuesday 24 January 2006. The trustees are David
Masunda, Arnold Tsunga, Lawrence Chibwe, Nhlanhla Ngwenya, Millicent
Phiri and Isabella Matambanadzo. This followed raids carried out
at the homes of two of the trustees (Arnold Tsunga and Nhlanhla
Ngwenya) on Saturday (21-01-06) and the unlawful hostage arrest
and detention of two persons, Emmanuel Kamba (an employee of Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights) and Charles Nyamufukudzwa (a caretaker
at the residence of Arnold Tsunga), who were present when the police
unlawfully entered Tsunga’s property. The police detained these
two and refused release them from police custody unless Arnold Tsunga
surrendered himself to the police.
The trustees
signed warned and cautioned statements in relation to an investigation
of an alleged contravention of section 7(1) as read with paragraph
(4) and (5) of the Broadcasting Services Act, which they denied.
The relevant sections read as follows:
7 Broadcasting
and signal carrier licences
(1) Subject
to this Act, and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Act [Chapter
12:01], no person shall provide a broadcasting service or operate
as a signal carrier in Zimbabwe except in accordance with a broadcasting
licence or a signal carrier licence, as the case may be…
(4) Any
person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence
and liable to¾
(a) a
fine not exceeding five million dollars or to imprisonment for a
period not exceeding two years, where the offence involves the unlicensed
provision of any broadcasting service referred to in paragraphs
(a) to (f) of subsection (2); or
(b) a
fine not exceeding level ten or to imprisonment for a period not
exceeding three months, where the offence involves the unlicensed
provision of any broadcasting service referred to in paragraphs
(g) to (j) of subsection (2)
or to both such
fine and such imprisonment.
(5) In
addition to any punishment it may impose under subsection (4) and
without derogation from its powers under any enactment, a court
convicting a person of contravening subsection (1) shall declare
forfeited to the State any equipment or apparatus used for the purpose
of or in connection with the offence.
The trustees first
appeared in court on the afternoon of 24 January 2006, where they
were released on bail of Z$ 4 million each. All, save for Matambanadzo
(who is based in South Africa but travelled to Zimbabwe to present
herself to the authorities), were initially required to report every
Friday at the Criminal Investigation Department, Law and Order Section
of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
The trustees were represented
by Beatrice Mtetwa of Nyambirai and Mtetwa legal Practitioners –
a Law Society Councillor and Board Member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights.
Visit the ZLHR
fact
sheet
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