A Zimbabwean judge who was set to hear an application by the independent Daily News on whether it should be allowed to publish recused himself from the case on Tuesday after a report said he had discussed his verdict with a member of the public.
Administrative Court Judge Michael Majuru quit the case after a report in the state-run Herald alleged that he had told a friend that he would rule in favour of The Daily News, a staunch critic of President Robert Mugabe.
The Daily News, the country’s most popular newspaper and the only alternative to state-run dailies The Herald and The Chronicle,
was closed down in September by armed police after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally because it was not registered with the state-appointed media commission.
Majuru said the story in the Herald indicated the Media and Information Commission felt it would not get a fair hearing if he presided over the case.
”I think it’s only prudent and fair in the interest of justice that I recuse myself in this matter,” he told the administrative court, which was due to begin hearing The Daily News application on Tuesday to rule on whether it should be allowed to resume publication.
Majuru said he would ask another judge to preside over the matter. The new judge was going to need time to study the submissions made by both sides in the case and set a new date for the hearing.
A decision on the whether The Daily News is allowed to resume publishing will only be known after that hearing.
On October 24, Majuru ordered that the Media Commission issue a licence to The Daily News by November 30, failing which the paper would be deemed to have been registered.
That decision was set aside when the commission appealed against the ruling, but The Daily News went back to the administrative court to have it enforced.
The October ruling ordering that The Daily News be accredited with the media commission was seen as a victory for the paper, which published a comeback edition a day later.
But police again shut down the paper again on October 25, saying it was not yet registered. It has not been published since. – Sapa-AFP