The case began with some advertisements placed in "the Daily News" by the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on 30 May. The ads showed President Mugabe being chased by a crowd with the caption "Do you recognise him: Thief! Thief! Thief!"
As a consequence of the publication, Sam Nkomo, chief executive officer of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), which publishes "the Daily News", was charged under Section 16 of the the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for running the advertisements that "denigrated President Mugabe".
For Nkomo, whose responsibilities are rooted firmly in the commercial side of ANZ’s activities, the charges came as a shock: "My responsibilities overall are strategic; I look after the business. I read the newspaper like everyone else in morning when it appears on the newsstands. If there is going to be an advert, I am not going to see it beforehand," said Mr Nkomo in an interview with RAP 21. "What the authorities are saying is, that whether or not I saw it, I am the person at the helm of the organisation, so I should take responsibility."
Editor Bill Saidi of "the Daily News on Sunday", sister publication of "the Daily News", believes the shift in tactic from trying to muzzle journalists and editors to trying to hold the commercial side of a newspaper accountable is a well devised government strategy for control: "To the extent that they would charge the CEO and the advertising manager instead of the editor shows they are really trying to scare everybody. This is a very, very well planned scare tactic," he said.
In addition to broadening the target-base of POSA, the use of the act against the press also reflects an apparent shift in the government’s overall legal strategy, as criminal charges brandished in the past against members of the press have fallen under Zimbabwe’s Access to Information and the Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), introduced in March in 2002 by President Mugabe. Since the Supreme Court ruled parts of the Act to be unconstitutional in April of this year, POSA seems to have become the Mugabe regime’s instrument of choice. Of the Act, Saidi said: "it is a very punitive law, it puts everyone in a straight jacket".
The recent events raise yet another concern. On 26 June, the editor of "the Daily News", Nqobile Nyathi, was also charged under Section 16, raising the question of why ANZ’s publications are being singled out by Zimbabwean authorities. Nkomo believes there are two reasons the media house has been targeted over the past few months: "We are the country’s largest independent paper, with a daily circulation of 100,000. For every one person who buys a newspaper, twenty more read it". High levels of readership of "the Daily News" provide a powerful independent voice throughout the country, one the authorities tend to view as anti-Mugabe. Nkomo refers to a financial battle being waged by the Mugabe regime as the second reason for the media outlet’s strife: "I think we are also deliberately targeted because they want to bankrupt us. Whenever we are charged, we must look for lawyers to defend us, and lawyers are very expensive. They are deliberately trying to bankrupt us."
Despite the serious charges facing one of the sole remaining independent media outlets in the country, and the even greater consequences for press freedom if the charges proceed to the courts, Nkomo does not believe the case will get that far. "I must say it will be a miracle if we are taken to court. I don’t know what they would say. These actions are a way of intimidating us, to stop us from writing the things we write. If they do take us to court it will be more for reprimanding us, not for the hope of getting conviction, but a way of trying to keep us under thumb."
When asked if the authorities have succeeded in intimidating him, Nkomo replied: "I am not the kind that gets intimidated. I am not new to this kind of struggle. I was involved in the struggle for independence and spent 15 years in prison. They can try next door".
A legal battle with heavy financial costs would have sent many media outlets running for the hills. For ANZ and its publications, however, these new charges have only further entrenched a will to continue the fight for survival.
About POSA POSA was enacted into law in January 2002, largely to protect the reputation of the president. The law affects more than practicing journalists; it has been routinely invoked to arrest members of Zimbabwe’s opposition party. However, one section of the law is especially targeted to restrict press freedom. Under Section 16, it is a crime to "publicly and intentionally make any false statement about or concerning the President, knowing or realizing that there is the risk or possibility of engendering feelings of hostility towards, or causing hatred, contempt or ridicule of the president or an acting president, whether in person or in respect of his office".
About AIPPA In March 2002 President Mugabe signed Zimbabwe’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Since its enactment, the media law has been used to suppress and intimidate independent journalists who seem critical of the government. Controversy over the law’s constitutionality led to amendments in June 2003. Calls for the repeal of Section 80, which prohibited "publishing falsehoods" led to the passage of an amendment that reads, "Any published statement, which is intentionally, unreasonably, recklessly, maliciously or fraudulently false and either (1) Threatens the interest of defence, public safety, public order, the economic interests of the state, public morality or public heath or, (2) Is injurious to the reputation, rights and freedoms of other persons will be punished". AIPPA also imposes compulsory accreditation for journalists and limits on the amount of time foreign journalists may spend in the country.