Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has condemned the closure of the independent newspaper The Daily News in that country, calling it a “political act”.
In a statement on Tuesday Tsvangirai says: “The closure of The Daily News is a political act. It has nothing to do with the law.
“The newspaper informed the world of the vicious government crackdown on the opposition before, during and after the election and exposed the electoral fraud of June 2000 and the presidential election in March 2002.”
The Daily News was first shut down after failing to register with a state media commission, but when it later applied for registration, its application was rejected. Zimbabwean police have raided the paper’s offices, removing equipment, and several of the paper’s journalists have been charged with working for an unlicensed publication.
“The forced shutting down of The Daily News has a lot to do with the desire to smash the MDC [Movement for Democratic Change]. Although that desire has failed to bear fruit in the past four years, Zanu-PF has remained resolute to wish the MDC away,” says Tsvangirai.
“We believe the Supreme Court made a serious error when it refused to hear the arguments of the newspaper in its contest with the need to register under the Access to Information and Protection to Privacy Act.
“The refusal to hear the complainant’s case strengthened perceptions and reservations on the independence of the judiciary at a time when the people rely on that arm of society as the remaining protector of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“Our fear is that this latest assault on democracy in Zimbabwe betrays a more sinister agenda aimed at silencing all diverse voices within the country. The absence of private media exposure may well provide the enemies of democracy with the injection of confidence to implement a cynical agenda aimed at silencing their internal critics.”