Reporter acquitted of criminal defamation

Charges arose over a story he wrote about a police officer who had been jailed for theft. The article reported that two other police officers, Jealousy Munyati and Andrew Konje, had also been previously convicted of taking a bribe.State prosecutor Munyaradzi Guveya told the court that the story had been maliciously defamatory to Munyati and Konje’s reputations, because they had been acquitted of the bribery charge, not convicted.

Matendere’s lawyer, Brian Dube of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, challenged the state’s case and declared that the complainants in the first instance wanted to settle personal scores with the journalist. He said this was evidenced by their refusal of a retraction. During investigations, the two demanded a $600 bribe from the accused in return for withdrawal of the charges.

The lawyer also indicated that the complainants had no reputation to protect because though it was later seen they had been acquitted, they were suspended twice from the police force and remain out of duty at present.

In passing judgment, magistrate Sithembiso Ncube concurred with Matendere’s defence that there was no criminal defamation in the said circumstances. She said though the state had succeeded in proving the error in the story, it had failed to satisfy the court that there was an intention to defame the officers. She also said that publication of a false statement does not become a crime unless there is an intention to harm another person’s reputation to a serious extent.

The Daily News Reporter Fungi Kwaramba and his editor Stanely Gama are among several journalists charged with the crime this year, despite the new constitution stating that the law should be removed from the statute boos. Their trial begins on May 15, with a Harare businessman claiming that they published stories about him that are defamatory to his reputation.

The two ware denying the charge and have said they will give notice to have the case referred to the constitutional court. Media organisations like the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists and MISA Zimbabwe are on record saying laws that limit media freedom and are no longer in line with the new constitution should be speedily re-aligned.