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Zimbabwe Police Defy Order for Newspaper
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Police defied a judgeâs order Thursday to allow the countryâs only independent daily newspaper to resume publishing, a lawyer for the paperâs owners said. Why thatâs, thatâs, ... against the law! Earlier Thursday, High Court Judge Younis Omerjee had also ordered police to return confiscated equipment and allow evicted staff back into their offices. "Begginâ yer pardon, yer honor, but we canât return all their stuff." "Why not, Constable?" "Well, yer honor, we sold it all." "That settles that. Case dismissed!" Police shut down the Daily News last Friday for failing to register under the strict media laws imposed by President Robert Mugabeâs government. Police evicted the staff, removed the newspapers computers and occupied its offices and printing plant since Friday. Wonder if those computers are in close proximity with certain mainframes from a customs office in Australia? Gugulethu Moyo, legal advisor for the Associated Newspaper group, the Daily News owners, said police prevented staff from returning to work in the paperâs downtown Harare offices after Omerjeeâs ruling. ``They said they had not received the court order. This is a travesty of justice,ââ she said. Plans to let staff publish a Friday edition were being thwarted by the police action, she added. Omerjee ruled Thursday that authorities immediately return confiscated computers and allow the newspaper to continue publishing. No equipment has been returned, Moyo said. But the coppers used the loot to buy Omerjeeâs ruling followed an urgent application by the paperâs owners to resume operations on grounds its closure was illegal. Sam Sipepa Nkomo chief executive of the publishing group said after the ruling that The Daily News would be back on the street Friday in a small eight page edition. ``We want to have a paper tomorrow. We are working out something with our friends Chief Supt. Clemens Madzingo, the officer in charge of the police closure of the paper, was in court Thursday to hear Omerjeeâs ruling. He told reporters then: ``It is fair. We have no problem with it.ââ "Nope, nope, no problems, jesâ as soon as we find the stuff. Legume! Front and center!" Madzingo, who remained in command at the Daily News offices late Thursday, appeared to have been overruled superiors acting under government orders. "Madzingo, are you nutz? Git yer fat ass back out there and git back to oppressing people!" There was no immediate comment available from police or the government. "We can say no more!" The paper printed only one edition since the pro-government Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that the failure to register meant the newspaper was illegal. The closing of the Daily News came amid a government crackdown on dissent as Zimbabwe struggles with Posted by: Steve White 2003-09-19 |
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