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Africa: Southern
Zimbabwe’s Daily News shut down
2003-10-26
Police closed the offices of Zimbabwe’s only independent daily, the Daily News, less than a day after it had reopened. Eighteen journalists were detained in the raid, the newspaper’s lawyer said.
Bob can’t deliver food or fuel, but he sure can move quickly to stifle the opposition.
With a front-page headline saying "We’re back", the daily went on sale on Saturday, for the first time since it was shut down by police six weeks ago. On Friday, a court ruled that the authorities were wrong to refuse the bestselling newspaper a licence.The paper has not yet been given a licence, but its lawyers say the ruling renders media regulations invalid. The government-appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC) has said it will appeal against the ruling delivered on Friday by the Harare Administrative Court. The Daily News is known for being highly critical of President Robert Mugabe and his government.
Roll over and play dead and you can stay open...
An editorial in Saturday’s newspaper called on the authorities to repeal strict media laws, which critics say were designed to stifle the press. "The truth was that these people were and are still obsessed with muzzling the independent media," reads the editorial. The newspaper was shut down by police early in September after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally because it had not registered with the MIC. The commission then denied the Daily News a licence, saying it had missed the deadline for applications and had also failed to supply the commission with free copies of the paper, as required under the law.
And if they had, the MIC would have found another reason.
But in Friday’s ruling, the judge said the commission had not been properly constituted invalidating all its actions to date. The court has now ordered the MIC to issue a licence by 30 November.
Maybe they could order Bob out of the country by then.
Posted by:Steve White

#4  Just wait for Mugabe to run out of food and money. He'll either try to conquer a neighbor and be defeated, or the people will kill him themselves.
Posted by: Charles   2003-10-26 2:24:14 PM  

#3  Where is Nelson Mandela's big flappy mouth? No fun criticizing black dictators?

He's gotta stick by his blood brother, no doubt.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2003-10-26 2:23:07 PM  

#2  I was pretty disgusted to learn that SA was trying to encourge Nigeria to ignore the ban on Zimbabwe attendence to the meeting of world commonwealths. Mbeki wanted Bob invited anyway until Australia spoke up.
Posted by: Super Hose   2003-10-26 10:54:45 AM  

#1  pressure has to be placed on So Africa - only with their help can Bob be toppled and hung from a lamppost. Where is Nelson Mandela's big flappy mouth? No fun criticizing black dictators?
Posted by: Frank G   2003-10-26 10:14:53 AM  

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