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Victim/
Concerned Party
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Violation/
Event/issue
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Date
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Status
of matter
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Bright
Matonga, the deputy Minister of Information and Publicity
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The deputy
minister told the weekly Sunday Mirror that the government
would amend the Broadcasting Services Act to ease the entry
of private players into the broadcasting sector.
He said
the ministry was awaiting recommendations from the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ).
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9 January
2006
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BAZ chairman
Pikirayi Deketeke said they were still to complete consultations
with interest groups before forwarding their recommendations
to the ministry.
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African
Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR)
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The ACHPR
at its 38th Ordinary Session in Banjul, Senegal
in December 2005 expressed concern over the suppression of
fundamental rights and liberties in Zimbabwe due to the repressive
nature of laws such as the Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Public Order and Security Act (POSA)
and Broadcasting Services Act (BSA).
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9 January
2006
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Loice
Matanda-Moyo the director of public prosecutions in the Attorney-General’s
Office, said the government was reviewing AIPPA in light of
the damning ACHPR report.
|
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John Masuku,
director of Voice of the People (VOP) radio station.
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Appeared
in court on further remand on charges of operating a radio
station without an operating licence in terms of the Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).
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13 January
2006
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Masuku
who was arrested after police raided the VOP offices in Harare
on 15 December 2005, was remanded out of custody to 30 March
2006.
|
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Sidney
Saize, freelance journalist and former journalist with the
banned Daily News.
|
Arrested
on charges of practicing journalism without accreditation
and publishing falsehoods in terms of Section 15 of the Public
Order and Security Act (POSA).
The second
charge arose from a story alleging that war veterans and youths
from the National Training College had assaulted some teachers
in Mutare in what appeared to be a politically motivated attack.
The police
alleged that the story was carried by the Voice of America’s
Studio 7.
|
18 January
2006
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Released
after spending three nights at Mutare Central Police Station
on 21 January 2006.
The police
said they would be proceeding by way of summons.
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Arnold
Tsunga, deputy chairman of VOP and board member, Nhlanhla
Ngwenya.
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Police
descended on Tsunga and Ngwenya’s homes in Harare saying they
were keen to question them on allegations of operating a radio
station without a licence.
The police
arrested and detained for three nights Anesu Kamba, a driver
with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and Charles
Nyamufukudzwa, Tsunga’s gardener. Tsunga is also the executive
director of ZLHR.
|
21 January
2006
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Kamba
and Nyamufukudzwa were released without charges on 24 January
2006 after spending three nights in police custody on allegations
of attempting to defeat the course of justice.
|
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VOP radio
station bosses, David Masunda, chairman, deputy chairman Arnold
Tsunga, board members Lawrence Chibwe, Nhlanhla Ngwenya, Millie
Phiri, Isabella Matambanadzo.
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Charged
with contravening the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA).
The state
alleges that they set up an office in Harare and equipped
it with computers which they used to produce radio programmes.
The programmes
were transmitted through the Internet to Radio Netherlands.
The broadcasts were then beamed in to Zimbabwe through a relay
station in Madagascar in alleged contravention of Section
7 (1) of BSA as read with paragraphs 4 and 5 Chapter 12:06
which deals with broadcasting and signal carriers.
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24 January
2006
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Granted
$4 million bail each and remanded to 10 February 2006 and
ordered to report to the police once a week on Fridays.
Matambanadzo
was, however, not subjected to similar reporting conditions
because she lives in South Africa.
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