Media, Information and Publicity Minister, Webster Shamu and his
permanent secretary George Charamba face contempt of court charges
after four freelance journalists were barred from covering the
just-ended Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa)
summit in violation of a High Court ruling, according to a report in The Standard.
Stanley Gama, Valentine Maponga, Stanley Kwenda and Jealousy Mawarire successfully challenged the legality of the Media and Information Commission (MIC) after Shamu and Charamba insisted that journalists without MIC accreditation would not be allowed to cover the Comesa summit.
In his ruling, High Court judge Justice Bharat Patel declared that MIC was a legal nullity and that the journalists should be allowed to cover the summit in Victoria Falls.
He also ordered Charamba and Shamu to retract their statements on accreditation using the electronic and print media but by Friday they were still to comply with the ruling.
Selby Hwacha, who is representing the four journalists, said they were preparing papers for the contempt of court case, in the face of the defiance by the minister and his permanent secretary.
"These people were ordered to place statements in the media and they have not done that," he said. "I am working on contempt of court papers and we hope to file them (this) week."
Click here to read the full report, posted on The Standard's website.
