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Justice Paradza's arrest and human rights violations
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly update 2003-7
February 17th - February 23rd

Human rights violations continued to attract media attention, with the main issue being the arrest of High Court Judge Benjamin Paradza. While the arrest received equal prominence in all daily papers, there was disagreement on the manner in which the police handled the issue. The public media failed to query the unprocedural manner in which police arrested Justice Paradza, leaving the job to the private media. The public media also failed to point out that the arrest of a sitting judge was unprecedented in Zimbabwe's legal history, but insisted it demonstrated there was rule of law in the country, as no one was above the law.

At the beginning of the week, ZBC & SW Radio Africa (17/2), The Herald, the Chronicle and The Daily News (18/2) reported that Paradza had been arrested for attempting to obstruct the course of justice by trying to influence fellow judges in a case involving a business colleague. ZBC and The Herald tried to dispel any suspicion of ulterior motives behind the arrest. For example, The Herald quoted police spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena as saying the issue was "a purely criminal case we are investigating". Without challenging the police on why they arrested the judge in order to investigate, the paper then claimed that its "investigations" had shown that "contrary to speculation in some sections of the world media, local opposition Press and the legal fraternity that the matter is connected to the release of Harare Mayor Elias Mudzuri, it is not".

An unnamed source was quoted as saying, "it's a formidable case, with formidable witnesses and serves to prove that no one is above the law and speaks well for the judiciary in Zimbabwe". The paper also used an unnamed "senior Harare lawyer" to dismiss criticism on the police's breach of proper channels used in handling such cases.

The Daily News however, tried to illustrate the haste with which Paradza was arrested in his chambers just before presiding over an urgent application. The paper quoted Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) President Sternford Moyo condemning "the liberal use of powers of arrest". Moyo was also quoted as saying the arrest of a sitting judge had "an intimidatory effect on other judges", adding that except for very serious cases, "charges levelled against judges should be dealt with in terms of the constitution, which requires that an enquiry takes place to establish whether or not the allegations of misconduct are well found". SW Radio Africa (17/2) quoted Paradza's lawyer, Jonathan Samkange, airing similar views. The Zimbabwe Independent (21/2) quoted the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) also saying proper procedures had not been followed in the arrest of Paradza. The LRF was quoted as saying the manner in which Paradza was arrested gave the impression that he was being harassed for not making judgments favourable to the authorities.

Nonetheless, The Herald (19/2) ignored such concerns in its follow-up of the issue. Instead, it quoted Minister Moyo dismissing Samkange's allegation that his client "was being persecuted for not serving certain interests" as bordering on "contempt of court". Moyo further accused Samkange of "getting into an unfortunate habit of using every case he handles as a political opportunity to the detriment of the dispensation of justice." In its bid to buttress the notion that Paradza had committed a serious crime, the paper reported unnamed "legal experts" as having said Paradza could be suspended from the bench until his case was concluded, a point that Samkange disputed in The Daily News of the same day.

The Daily Mirror (also 19/2) reported the opposition National Alliance for Good Governance (NAGG) as having described Paradza's arrest as "a blatant act of intimidation of the judiciary". However, The Herald's editorial (20/2), would not relent on its defence of the state. It said the fact that the judge had been "brought to court and granted bail" demonstrated that the rule of law "is well and alive in Zimbabwe", adding that the incident actually proved "the police will not be intimidated from arresting suspected criminals no matter their stature in society". Justice Paradza's arrest was just but one of the reports on alleged human rights violations by state security agents and ZANU PF supporters. Besides his case, there were 11 stories of politically related arrests and human rights violations in the Press, which included at least seven reports of politically motivated violence.

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