2013 Judge John Manyarara Memorial Lecture The Judge John Manyarara Memorial Lecture is held each year, in honour of Judge Manyarara, the founding Chairperson (1994 – 2000) of the MISA Trust Funds Board (TFB). Long-time media freedom activist Dr. Fidelis Edge Kanyongolo presented the 2013 lecture in Blantyre, Malawi on the topic: ‘The role of the judiciary in establishing a societal balance between media freedom and a person’s right to their reputation’. The audience included members of the judiciary, journalists, law students, media freedom activists and civil society representatives. Delivering the lecture in 2013 was personally significant for Dr. Kanyongolo, who said, “this is the year when I commemorate the 30th anniversary of the start of my 15-month detention without trial when I was a 20-year-old university student. My imagined crime was that I had exceeded the bounds of freedom of expression.” He said it was also a significant year for the lecture to be held in Malawi because it marked 20 years since “the decision of the country to replace the one-party dictatorship with a pluralistic democratic order which set the foundation for the constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and press freedom that we enjoy today”. In his lecture, Dr. Kanyongolo said he wanted “to suggest a reflection of the role that courts can play in contributing to the protection of media freedom”. Dr. Kanyongolo’s lecture focused on how the judiciary: • protects media freedom within a media landscape of dynamic of changes; • adjudicates any conflict between media freedom and individual reputations; and • can use its adjudicatory role, especially in the context of defamation laws, to advance the cause of media freedom and freedom of expression. SUPPORTING JOURNALISTS UNDER FIRE M ISA supports victims of media freedom and freedom of expression violations with practical support and by conducting evidence-based research and monitoring to identify and publicise media freedom and freedom of expression violations. In 2013, MISA provided moral support to, and helped increase awareness of the violations against, journalists Nomawethu Solwandle and Njanji Chauke (South African Broadcasting Corporation), Absalom Kibanda (Tanzania Editors’ Forum), Anthony Masamba (Malawi Institute of Journalism), Thoko Chikondi (Nations Publications Limited), Bheki Makhubu (The Nation – Swaziland), Wilson Pondamali, Clayson Hamasaka and Thomas Zyambo (freelance – Zambia), Paul Pindani (freelance – Zimbabwe) Obey Manayiti (Newsday Zimbabwe), Dumisani Muleya and Owen Gagare (The Zimbabwe Independent). MISA joined a global coalition of NGOs petitioning the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for leave to act as amicus curiae, or friends of the court in the case of Issa Lohé Konaté. Konaté, the editor of the Burkina Faso-based weekly L’Ouragan, was convicted of defaming local State Persecutor Placide Nikiéma, after he published two articles raising questions about alleged abuse of power by the prosecutor’s office. Konaté was sentenced to 12 months in prison and fined 4 million CFA francs (6,000 Euros) on 29 October 2012. MISA participated in the application based on its belief that criminal defamation and insult laws severely restrict the space within which civil society and the citizens of a country may question their government or advocate for human rights. 13