• ALERT Date: January 16, 2007 Persons: The Standard, Caiphas Chimhete, The Zimbabwean Violation: Threatened The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has threatened to sue the privately-owned “The Standard” and “The Zimbabwean” weeklies over stories reporting that the RBZ governor Dr. Gideon Gono had bought a top-of-the-line Mercedes Benz for US$365,000. In a statement on January 16, 2007, the bank’s board of directors said they would also take legal action against journalist Caiphas Chimhete following publication of the story by “The Standard” in its weekly edition of 7 January. The chairman of the board’s human resources committee, Lovemore Chihota, described the story as “entirely and totally false”, adding: “As a corporate body, the Reserve Bank, its staff, management and board have equally stood grossly victimised and humiliated by this false article.” On January 7, “The Standard” reported that the governor had imported one of the latest model, speediest Mercedes Benz in the world, a Brabus E V12 Biturbo, from Germany at a cost of US$365,000, “infuriating” many workers at RBZ who were denied annual bonuses by Gono in November 2006 on the grounds that the bank did not have the money. “The Zimbabwean” subsequently published a similar story. In the case of “The Standard” story, MISA-Zimbabwe notes that the story mentions that the car in question had been bought by Gono for “himself” and quotes an RBZ employee as having stated: “The question is: where did he (Gono) get the foreign currency to import such an expensive vehicle when the country has nothing?” The story does not state that the RBZ bought or imported the car for the governor. • ALERT Date: January 16, 2007 Persons: Selestin Jengeta Violation: Other (Detained) Selestin Jengeta, a teacher in Masvingo, spent three days in a lice-infested police cell. He was arrested for remarking during a television news bulletin that the Zimbabwean crisis would only end upon the death of President Robert Mugabe. • ALERT Date: January 16, 2007 Persons: Gibson Murinye and Collen Mwachikopa Violation: Other (threatened) Gibson Murinye and Collen Mwachikopa appeared before Masvingo Magistrate Timeon Makunde on charges of contravening the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act after they were charged with singing a song deemed derogatory of President Robert Mugabe. • ALERT Date: January 4, 2007 Persons: Trevor Ncube Violation: Expelled Trevor Ncube, the publisher of the privately owned Zimbabwe Independent and Zimbabwe Standard, is facing renewed attempts to deny him Zimbabwean citizenship. At present, Ncube is seeking a High Court order compelling the government to renew his application for citizenship after it was initially withdrawn. In the pleadings, Ncube argues that he is automatically entitled to citizenship because he has never held the passport of another country and by virtue of the fact that his father, who was born in Zambia, was also a Zimbabwean. The So This Is Democracy? 2007 -141- Media Institute of Southern Africa