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Trial of Journalist Postponed
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Zimbabwe)
March 23, 2005

The trial of Richard Musazulwa, a correspondent with the weekly Standard newspaper, who is facing charges of abusing journalistic privilege under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), has been postponed.

Gweru magistrate Auxillia Chiumburu postponed the trial to 25 April 2005 after the State had called its first witness, squadron leader Donald Mpofu.

Musazulwa who is also the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists’ Midlands provincial secretary, is being accused of contravening Section 80 (1) (b) of AIPPA Chapter 10:27 which deals with abuse of journalistic privilege by publishing falsehoods.

His trial comes almost three weeks after he had been removed from remand by the same magistrate after two state witnesses had failed to turn up in court.

Charges against Musazulwa arise from a story published in The Standard on 22 August 2004 alleging that hungry ruling Zanu PF youths had attempted to gatecrash a luncheon hosted for senior party officials by the Air Force of Zimbabwe at Thornhill Airbase in Gweru.

Meanwhile, Mpofu who is the chief security officer at Thornhill, on 21 March 2005 testified that he had checked with the officers who were on duty on the day in question and had been informed that no report had been made to that effect.

The magistrate postponed the trial to 25 April 2005 to allow the state’s second witness to attend court.

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