ZIMBABWE: U.S. JOURNALIST ANDREW MELDRUM ORDERED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY SHORTLY AFTER BEING FOUND NOT GUILTY IN HARRARE OF PUBLISHING A FALSE STORY

Record ID: 649258

  • Title: ZIMBABWE: U.S. JOURNALIST ANDREW MELDRUM ORDERED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY SHORTLY AFTER BEING FOUND NOT GUILTY IN HARRARE OF PUBLISHING A FALSE STORY
  • Date: 15th July 2002
  • Summary: (W4) HARARE, ZIMBABWE (JULY 15, 2002) (REUTERS) 1. LV: STREET IN HARARE 0.07 2. SLV'S: MAGISTRATES COURT (2 SHOTS) 0.22 3. SV: ANDREW MELDRUM ARRIVES WITH WIFE 0.29 4. WS: MELDRUM COMES OUT 0.34 5. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MELDRUM SAYING: "There are thirteen other journalists in Zimbabwe who are charged under the same law, and with this verdict the other journalists will be able to have a defence to show that they were acting as responsible journalists, as I did. And this is great. Also, what has been good, is that this trial has exposed the government as working to pervert the rule of law and try and stem out free press in the country. And I think to get this message across is very important. The journalists in this country are trying to do work, particularly the journalist of the independent or privately owned press. They are trying to hold this government accountable, not just for a good story, but for the good of all Zimbabweans, for the good of human rights, for a government that is not corrupt and unaccountable. So I'm delighted with the verdict. Now, what has happened immediately after the verdict is that chief or senior immigration officer came to tell me that my permanent residence status had been revoked, and that I'm given 24 hours to leave the country. This is consistent with government's effort to try and stop me from reporting exactly what a journalist is supposed to do. " 1.52 6. SV: LAWYER BEATRICE MUTETWE WALKING OUT OF COURT 1.58 7. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEATRICE MUTETWE SAYING: "The papers require Andrew to leave Zimbabwe in the next 24 hours unless the minister, if we appeal to him, allows him more time." QUESTION: WHAT COULD BE THE REASON? "Harassment. That is all there is to that. To get aquitted and then you get deported." QUESTION: AND WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT MEDIA FREEDOM IN ZIMBABWE? "Well, you are a journalist. It means next time you could be in Andrew's shoes. I just mean that weather you win in the courts or not, you still have the last laugh". 2.28 8. WIDE OF JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE COURT 2.34 9. SV: ANDREW MELDRUM AND WIFE LEAVING 2.38 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th July 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HARARE, ZIMBABWE
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Reuters ID: LVA27EN8CJK7M42221FD1RBNAJ9R
  • Story Text: A U.S. journalist has said he was ordered to leave
    Zimbabwe within 24 hours after being found not guilty of
    publishing a false story under President Robert Mugabe's harsh
    new media laws.


    Andrew Meldrum, the Zimbabwe correspondent of Britain's
    Guardian newspaper has been advised by the immigration
    authorities on Monday (July 15) that his permanent residence
    permit had been revoked.

    Meldrum, a 50-year-old native of Hudson, Ohio, United
    State, who has lived in Zimbabwe for 22 years was the first
    of a dozen journalists accused of publishing falsehoods to go
    on trial.

    "This is consistent with a government that is trying to
    stop me from reporting what is going on here. I'm trying to
    see what I can do and I will consult my lawyer right now,"
    Meldrum said.

    He was ordered to leave the country shortly after Judge
    Godfrey Macheyo delivered his ruling in a Harare court.

    The trial was set against a worsening political and
    economic crisis in Zimbabwe, which critics say has been
    fuelled by the government's two-year-old campaign to seize
    white owned farms for black resettlement.

    Mugabe, who is accused by the opposition and many Western
    powers of cheating and using violence to win presidential
    polls in March, says the land programme is an effort to
    correct imbalances in land ownership created by British
    colonialism.

    Meldrum was accused of reproducing a story first published
    in Zimbabwe's privately-owned Daily News that Mugabe's
    militant supporters had beheaded a woman earlier this year.

    The newspaper later said the story was false and
    apologised to Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party.

    The government had pressed charges against Meldrum and his
    editor under new media laws unveiled after Mugabe's
    re-election that penalise the publication of false stories as
    an "abuse of journalistic privilege."
    "The trial has exposed that the government is trying to
    pervert the rule of law and that it is trying to prevent the
    press from reporting the truth in this country about misrule,
    corruption and abuse of power," Meldrum said.

    The charges carried a heavy fine and up to two years in
    jail. Critics say the law is designed to curb press freedom.

    The government says it is aimed at introducing "ethical
    behaviour" in the media.

    Meldrum, who smiled broadly in court as his supporters
    cheered the judge's ruling, said he hoped the judgement would
    aid other journalists facing similar charges.


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