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Editor testifies
MISA-Zimbabwe
August 03, 2006

Vincent Kahiya, the editor of the Zimbabwe Independent said his newspaper had no intention to defame former High Court Judge President Justice Paddington Garwe when it published a story claiming that assessors had blocked him from delivering judgment in the treason trial of opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

In his evidence on 2 August 2006, Kahiya said the treason trial had generated a lot of interest and rumours were flying in Harare. "Stories flying in Harare then said there was a ruling while others said the President had taken the judgment to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to consult with African heads of state that were attending a summit there.

"We didn’t believe these stories hence the need to find out what was happening," he said.

On the usage of the word "blocked" in the story, Kahiya said that meant that judgment had been delayed or deferred.

Justice Garwe who is now on the Supreme Court bench, is suing the privately owned weekly following the publication of a story in 2004 claiming that he had been blocked by assessors from passing judgment in the treason trial.

Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza reserved judgment on 2 August 2006.

Background
Augustine Mukaro, a reporter with the Zimbabwe Independent on 1 August 2006 told the High Court in Harare that an assessor in the treason trial of opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai revealed to him why judgment in the matter had been postponed.

Justice Garwe who is now on the Supreme Court bench, is suing the privately owned weekly following the publication of a story in 2004 claiming that he had been blocked by assessors from passing judgment in the treason trial.

Mukaro said he had interviewed assessor Joseph Dangarembizi at his home in Harare who told him that the assessors had told the judge that they could not rely on their hand-written notes and requested for copies of the transcript.

Dangarembizi had further stated that the role of assessors was to ensure that a trial proceeds fairly, said Mukaro.

In his evidence Dangarembizi denied granting Mukaro the interview saying the reporter had never visited his house nor telephoned him to enquire about Tsvangirai’s case.

Justice Garwe is suing the Zimbabwe Independent for Zimdollars 75 billion.

In his evidence, Justice Garwe said the article was very irresponsible as it implied that he had reached a decision in Tsvangirai’s trial without discussing the evidence with the assessors. He said as Judge President he occupied a senior position in the judiciary and his reputation was damaged considering that he also sits on international judiciary boards.

Kahiya and Mukaro are cited as respondents.

In its story published on 30 July 2004, the Zimbabwe Independent claimed that assessors Major Misheck Nyandoro and Joseph Dangarembizi had blocked Justice Garwe from passing his judgment before they could review transcripts of the trial.

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