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Misa-Zimbabwe Alert: Journalists apply for removal from remand
MISA-Zimbabwe
October 04, 2004

A Harare magistrate will on 1 November 2004 make a ruling on whether four journalists who work for the privately-owned Zimbabwe Independent newspaper being charged with criminal defamation should be removed from remand.

Magistrate Omega Mugumbati, said she would make her ruling next month after the lawyers representing former Zimbabwe Independent editor Iden Wetherell, Vincent Kahiya, the editor, news editor Dumisani Muleya, and reporter, Itai Dzamara, applied for the accused to be removed from remand.

This comes in the wake of a 10-month remand period without a trial date being set after the four were charged with criminal defamation following the paper’s publication of a story headlined: Mugabe Grabs Plane For Far East Holiday.

Kahiya and Muleya were news editor and chief reporter respectively at the material time. Wetherrel is now the publishing company’s group projects editor.

In her application, Advocate Edith Mushore who is representing the four, argued that the chances of her clients being convicted were slim. She submitted that they had not defamed President Robert Mugabe as alleged because the story was essentially correct.

The story was published on 9 January 2004. The accused are on $20 000 bail each.

Mushore said that the Minister of Information and Publicity Professor Jonathan Moyo should have investigated the facts before ordering the arrest of the Zimbabwe Independent journalists.

She said Moyo himself had confirmed that the story was not "fictitious" but then referred to it as being "blasphemous". Mushore said former Air Zimbabwe managing director Rambai Chingwena also confirmed the story as being true but tried to play it down by focusing on protocol matters.

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