Zimbabwean police were on Wednesday again ordered to allow the country’s embattled Daily News to resume publishing, the third such order issued by the court in just over a month, the paper’s legal adviser said.
Gugulethu Moyo said High Court Judge Tendai Uchena ordered the execution of a previous court order, issued on January 9, which tells police to stop interfering with publishing and leave the Harare premises of the paper.
”Judge Tendai Uchena upheld the order he had issued earlier this month,” Moyo said.
”He said in the order that even if there is an appeal by the police, his order should still be enforced,” she said.
The Daily News — a fierce critic of President Robert Mugabe’s government — was forcibly shut down by armed police in September last year after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally by not being registered with the state-appointed media commission.
Since then, the paper’s lawyers have been shuttling between the country’s courts battling to get authorisation for the paper to re-open.
On several occasions, the courts have ruled in favour of the paper, but the police have ignored rulings ordering them to allow it to resume publishing.
”The judge also expressed concern that the police insisted in acting against his order and against the advice of government lawyers,” said Moyo.
”His court could not allow this to continue,” she added.
The Daily News, which quickly gained a reputation for unbiased reporting, was the country’s most popular daily, with a readership of at least 900 000.
There are three other dailies — two state-run dailies, The Herald and The Chronicle— and a small private daily, the Daily Mirror. – Sapa-AFP