Journalists Challenge Zimbabwe Law

By: Michael Hartnack, Associated Press Writer (AP) Two independent journalists charged with writing and publishing an inaccurate story can challenge that law's constitutionality before their trial begins, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Geoff Nyarota, editor of Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper, The Daily News, and reporter Lloyd Mudiwa were charged after the newspaper published a report saying an opposition supporter had been beheaded.

Police and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change said the beheading did not happen. The newspaper printed an apology, saying its staff may have been misled.

The law makes it illegal to publish inaccurate information, whether or not a journalist knew it was false. It was one of a series of laws passed ahead of Zimbabwe's presidential elections in March that critics said were aimed at quashing opposition.

The reporters say the law stifles freedom of expression. On Wednesday, Magistrates Court Judge Sandra Nhau said "the only reasonable thing" was to let the Supreme Court rule on its constitutionality before the journalists' trial.

Thirteen journalists have been charged under the new law, which carries a sentence of up to two years in prison.

Last week, American journalist Andrew Meldrum, a correspondent for Britain's Guardian newspaper, was acquitted in the first trial under the law.

Meldrum wrote about the story of the beheading that appeared in the Daily News. Judge Godfrey Macheyo ruled he did everything reasonable to check the story but police would not cooperate with him.

Police in Zimbabwe rarely cooperate with the independent media.

Meldrum now is fighting government efforts to expel him.

In the past two years, Zimbabwe has been wracked by political and economic chaos.

The increasingly authoritarian government of President Robert Mugabe has cracked down on the independent press, the judiciary, and opposition officials. The government repeatedly has ignored court orders, instructing police not to enforce them, and last year expanded the Supreme Court bench in an apparent bid to pack it with sympathetic judges.

Also Wednesday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Nyarota and his predecessor, Wilfred Mbanga, received grants meant for writers worldwide who have been targets of political persecution. The awards, funded by the estates of American authors Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett, are for $10,000 maximum, although Human Rights Watch does not specify the amount of each award.