Zimbabwe's Only Independent Daily Silenced

By: Michael Hartnack, Associated Press Writer (AP) Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper failed to publish Saturday after armed police raided its offices and the Supreme Court declared the publication in violation of a new media law.

The closure of the Daily News comes amid a government crackdown on dissent as Zimbabwe struggles with an economic collapse and international isolation. President Robert Mugabe pushed through a passage of severe new security laws last year allowing the government to ban public gatherings, and his opponents have been attacked and arrested.

Iden Wetherell, editor of the weekly Zimbabwe Independent, called the crackdown on the paper part of a "program of repression."

"The whole country is threatened by Mugabe and his minions as they attempt to cover the trail of their misrule," Wetherell said.

The government acted late Friday within hours of winning a case against the Daily News' owner, Associated Newspapers Zimbabwe, in the recently reconstituted Supreme Court, which is now dominated by pro-government judges.

Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, a former minister, ruled that the publication had not registered under a 2002 media law, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The Act stipulates that a government license is required to publish.

Editor in Chief Francis Mdlongwa said the group applied for accreditation immediately on hearing Chidyausiku's ruling.

Tafataona Mahoso, chairman of the government's Media and Information Commission, was quoted as saying in the state-controlled Herald: "What they should have done is stop publishing until they are registered. As far as I am concerned the Daily News does not exist in terms of the laws of this country."

Police posted guards at the group's offices Saturday and only allowed staff inside to collect personal effects.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change Saturday said the Daily News played a crucial role keeping the flickering flame of democracy alive in Zimbabwe and called for a retaliatory boycott of state-owned newspapers by readers and advertisers.

Since its launch in 1999, the Daily News has given a voice to critics of Mugabe's 23-year rule as inflation tops 400% and shortages of all basic commodities increase.

Many blame the country's instability and economic downturn on Mugabe's 3-year-old land seizure policy, which saw white-owned farms handed to black Zimbabweans.

In January 2001, the Daily News' printing presses were blown up hours after Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said the newspaper was "a threat to national security which had to be silenced."

However, the newspaper continued to publish by contracting other presses.

Under protest in January, the Zimbabwe Independent registered under the 2002 law. It is still awaiting a court hearing to challenge the media law.

Since the Act was passed in January 2002, 14 independent journalists have been arrested for alleged breaches and four foreign correspondents expelled.