The three briefly appeared in court this morning where they were told to come back on 21 July.
The trio’s lawyer Job Sibanda told said that the case had been moved to 21 July after Officer Commanding Matabeleland North Senior Assistant Commissioner Edmore Veterai failed to turn up to court.
“We were told that Veterai, who is the complainant could not make it to the court because he is attending a conference in Namibia,” said Sibanda.
However sources close to the case revealed that Veterai was under pressure from Commissioner of police Augustine Chihuri to drop the case.
“The commissioner instructed him to drop the case and he delaying just to save face as there is a high chance that charges are going to be dropped,” a source at the courts.
Malaba and Tshuma were on 17 March 2009 arrested then made to sign a warned and cautioned statement by police in Bulawayo following the publication of a story on the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) maize scandal in which tonnes of maize were sold on the black market and diverted to neighbouring Zambia.
In his initial judgment, the Magistrate, John Masimba remanded the two out of custody to 19 May 2009 for trial and stated that the application was based on whether there was any reasonable suspicion that an offence was committed.
The case becomes the first in which state journalists are charged under any of the repressive media laws in the country. Media laws that journalists’, particularly freelance journalists and journalists working for the independent media, are usually charged under include the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act