Weekly Mail Reporter
Two Weekly Mail journalists, co-editor Anton Harber and freelance reporter Jo-Anne Bekker, were this week found guilty of contempt of court for three articles on the Delmas treason trial which appeared in last Friday’s edition of the newspaper.
Mr Justice K van Dijkhorst, the presiding judge in the Delmas trial, sentenced Harber to a fine of R750 or three months imprisonment and Bekker to a fine of R200 or one month imprisonment. Bekker’s sentence was suspended for two years.
The respondents will be lodging an appeal.
The judge has objected to a number of aspects of the reports. He objected to the fact that certain notes quoted had been wrongly described as “the judge’s notes” and said that other parts of the reports were “speculative comment” on evidence before the court, which constituted contempt.
The respondents apologised to the judge for erroneously ascribing to him notes made by an attorney for the defence. They told the judge they had been misinformed about the nature of the notes and had no intent to bring the court into disrepute.
Dennis Kuny, SC, appearing for the defence, argued that for contempt to have been committed, there had to have been an intention to commit contempt. He said the error around “the judge’s notes” was not committed intentionally. The judge rejected this, saying newspapers were strictly liable for the effects of reports they published.
The judge found Bekker not guilty in connection with the “judge’s notes” but guilty in respect of certain other statements in the reports. Harber was found guilty on all counts.