June 30, 2008: Harare Magistrate Doris Shomwe on May 30 dismissed an application for removal from remand, which was made by media lawyer Harrison Nkomo on May 23. In dismissing the application, Magistrate Shomwe cited that Article 13 subsection (2e) of the Zimbabwe Constitution states that for one to be deprived of his personal liberty as may be authorised by law there should be reasonable suspicion of him/her having committed or being about to commit a criminal offence. The defence counsel failed to submit a second application which questions the constitutionality of the sections under which Nkomo is being charged, after Prosecutor Public Mpofu asked for the postponement of the matter to June 5, 2008. •ALERT Date: May 23, 2008 Person/institutions: Davison Maruziva, The Standard, Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara Violation/issue: Charged The trial date for Davison Maruziva, the editor of privately owned weekly The Standard newspaper was set for June 5, 2008 by Harare Magistrate Doris Shomwe. Maruziva stands accused of publishing or communicating a statement prejudicial to the state in contravention of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Defence lawyer Advocate Depak Metha, at the instructions of Harare lawyer Authur Mutsonziwa, requested the Attorney General’s Office to avail them with the necessary documents, namely the charge sheet, state outline and witness statements to enable the defence counsel to prepare its case: June 4, 2008: Leader of a faction of the Zimbabwe opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara, appeared in court on June 3, 2008 charged with contempt of court and communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state. Harare Provincial Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe is presiding over the matter. Appearing for the state, Harare area prosecutor Jonathan Murombedzi alleged that Mutambara wrote an opinion article published in The Standard newspaper of April 20, 2008, which the prosecution said was false and thus undermined public confidence in the law enforcement agents, defence forces and the prison services. June 6, 2008: The hearing on the matter in which The Standard newspaper is being charged under Section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which deals with the publication of a statement prejudicial to the State, has been set for June 17, 2008 by Harare Magistrate Dorris Shomwe. Prosecutor Teddy Kamuriwo, from the Attorney General’s office, stated that the reason for setting the trial date for June 17 was to enable the State to combine the case of the newspaper’s editor, Davison Maruziva, also charged under the same section, and MDC faction leader Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara, who authored the article. Kamuriwo stated that it is the state’s prerogative to join the cases. The defence lawyers objected to the joining of the cases stating that they would have expected prior notice on the State’s intentions. The defence lawyer also requested that the state present them with the state papers, which include the charge sheet, state outline and the witness statements, well before the trial date, failure to which the defence will make it an issue at the hearing of the trial. June 18, 2008: The joint trial of the independent newspaper, The Standard, its editor Davison Maruziva and MDC faction leader Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara has been postponed to July 10, 2008. The Standard newspaper, Maruziva and Mutambara stand charged under Section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act following the publication of an opinion piece by Mutambara in the weekly newspaper. The postponement was made on June 17, 2008 by the So This Is Democracy? 2008 -141- Media Institute of Southern Africa