The Constitutional Court has dismissed an application for an order finding that over 80 editors and journalism professors are censoring Western Cape woman Lara Johnstone, according to papers received on Tuesday.
“The Constitutional Court has considered the application for direct access and concluded that the application should be dismissed as it is not in the interests of justice to hear the matter,” read an order dated February 1.
Johnstone, who intended representing herself because she believes no one in the country has the ability to grasp her arguments, had filed lengthy papers spanning various issues.
These included that argument in her previous applications to be a friend of courts hearing matters she was interested in, were not reported on.
One was the Reitz Four case and other, the Robert McBride case.
Johnstone runs various websites featuring posts on the genocide of whites and farmers, white refugees from Africa and media “prosetitutes[sic]”.
She believes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a fraud because the underlying causes of the world’s problems — overpopulation and ecological sustainability — have not been addressed and that because of this, true forgiveness cannot take place.
Crimen injuria
The complaint against the South African Press Association (Sapa), which was among those she had tried to have a ruling on, was that the news agency did not report on all aspects of her arrest on a crimen injuria charge.
She had allegedly sent SMSs to Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, in the course of a lengthy attempt at seeking comment from politicians on her theories, and De Lille decided to lay the charge.
According to the court report filed by Sapa, based on the court proceedings, Johnstone refused to leave the holding cell and refused to participate in a forensic psychological assessment.
Her complaint was that Sapa did not report on why she did not leave the holding cell or cooperate with the psychologist.
In her Constitutional Court application she had wanted the judges to rule that the editors did not mind that she was being persecuted and that they were being deliberately indifferent to her.
She also wanted complaints she had made to the press ombudsman reviewed after they were dismissed.
There was no order as to costs. — Sapa