A Harare judge on Monday dismissed charges against four directors of the banned independent Daily News newspaper, citing insufficient evidence.
Handing down her judgement, magistrate Lillian Kudya said ”the state has failed to show a prima facie case against the accused”.
CEO Samuel Nkomo and three directors were arrested in October on charges of illegally publishing the newspaper under provisions of Zimbabwe’s strict media laws.
”We are free. We knew justice was going to prevail,” said Nkomo after the ruling.
Defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa had asked the magistrate to drop the charges against Nkomo and directors Brian Mutsau, Rachel Kupara and Michael Mattinson.
Kudya said the state had failed to prove that the paper intentionally violated the law because it had won some rulings from superior courts in favour of its right to return to the newsstands.
Zimbabwe’s strict press law requires that all journalists and newspapers be licenced by the official Media and Information Commission.
Armed police shut down the Daily News and confiscated computers in September 2003 after the Supreme Court ruled that the newspaper was publishing illegally.
However, it returned to the newsstands after another court ruled in its favour.
The paper published a comeback edition on October 25, but the paper’s renaissance was short-lived as the state again stopped publication and police arrested the four directors.
The Daily News was launched in 1999, providing nearly a million readers with the only independent alternative to two state-run dailies — the Herald and the Chronicle.
It proved to be a thorn in the side of President Robert Mugabe’s government, with its harshly critical editorial line. — Sapa-AFP