Zimbabwe
Police fined for attack on Capital Radio

afrol.com, 18 October - The Zimbabwe High Court on October 16 fined assistant police commissioner, Libermann Ndlovu, ZW$ 3000 (approx. US$ 56.6) or 30 days in jail for defying a lawful order issued by Judge Chatikobo on October 4. The court however exonerated Police Commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, from the matter. Justice Gwaunza said she had considered his explanation that he was "not fully prepared" to stand by Ndlovu. 

The two were charged with contempt for defying a judge's order and ignoring orders given to police to stop the seizure of independent broadcaster Capital Radio's equipment. Both Chihuri and Ndlovu did not deny that the order had been defied, but differed on who was responsible. 

In the meantime, the government has appointed a seven-member Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), who will be responsible for planning and administering the broadcasting spectrum of Zimbabwe as well as to define and demarcate global licence area plans for the country. The authority will, among others, also be in charge of inviting, selecting and recommending prospective licences to the Minister and, in conjunction with players from the industry, define and enforce a Broadcasting Code of Conduct. No public servants have been named as members of the authority. 

The Minister of state for Information, Jonathon Moyo, earlier said that new broadcasting regulations which set up the authority, would be in force for the next six months, during which stakeholders should consult and provide feedback to government on sections they wished to change before the regulations were passed to parliament as a Bill for permanent legislation. 

The two police officials had been charged with contempt after the police on the night of 4 October located and raided the studios of private broadcaster, Capitol Radio, at Harare's Monomotapa Hotel. 

The raid was conducted despite Capitol Radio's interdict barring the police from confiscating the station's equipment until 4:30 pm on 5 October. The interdict stipulated that the Minister of State for Information, the Director of the Post and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) and the Commissioner of Police, were barred from either interfering with the operations of the station or confiscating its equipment. 

Capital Radio had been broadcasting since 28 September in the absence of any broadcasting regulatory framework and following a Supreme Court ruling on 22 September which nullified the state's broadcasting monopoly. 

The new broadcasting regulations came in the wake of the 22 September Supreme Court ruling. Following the ruling, government contended that no broadcaster would be allowed to operate until government had established a regulatory authority to provide an operational framework for new broadcasters. The regulations were hastily enacted and passed into law in terms of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act. It has been widely rejected and condemned by media organisations in Zimbabwe as draconian and punitive. 

Source: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)

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