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Banning of The Tribune condemned
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) and Media Institute of Southern Africa - Zimbabwe
June 11, 2004

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) condemn the cynical and unconstitutional banning of The Tribune newspaper by the government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC). This latest onslaught against free expression, and particularly the privately owned media, demonstrates precisely why so many of the provisions of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) are clearly anti-democratic and grossly repressive.

The flimsy regulatory grounds cited as reasons for silencing The Tribune cannot be used to overrule the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression.

The MIC edict flies in the face of the Commission’s own mandate to ensure and protect unhindered access to information. Instead of helping to secure the development of the media and promoting the freeflow of information, MIC is busy curtailing any critical discourse in the media industry.

MISA and MMPZ view the closure of the paper as a vindictive and premeditated decision to shut alternative voices in the Zimbabwe media industry ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. This latest gag on one of the few remaining alternative sources of information in Zimbabwe once again clearly illustrates government’s underlying intention of introducing this legislation.

The MIC has caused untold suffering to publishers and employees. It is denying many thousands of Zimbabweans their right to receive and impart information. As in the 12 September 2003 closure of The Daily News and its Sunday sister paper, the latest attack on The Tribune will affect hundreds of families who relied on these publications for a living.

MISA and MMPZ reiterate that AIPPA is an undemocratic law that has no place in an “independent” and “free” society. Laws that allow government to destroy private enterprises and so many livelihoods for essentially minor regulatory offences should be struck off the statute books.

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