State of the media in Southern Africa - 2003 ■ ALERTS • DATE: August 14, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Gwen Lister, Andreas Frai, MISA VIOLATIONS: Threatened O n August 14 2003, President Sam Nujoma launched a verbal attack against Gwen Lister, editor of The Namibian newspaper, The Namibian itself and MISA. The president also instructed reporter Andreas Frai of the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) not to work with MISA. The president criticised the media’s lack of participation in the international Smart Partnership. He also condemned MISA, which he said was only out to insult him and other heads of state, and accused The Namibian and MISA of being “unprofessional” and “reactionary.” • DATE: August 20, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: MISA VIOLATIONS: Threatened O n August 20 2003, Zimbabwean Minister of State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo attacked MISA (regional body, with a secretariat hosted in Windhoek, Namibia) for what he called “promotion of misunderstanding” between the Zimbabwean government and the private media. Speaking in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Moyo alleged that MISA is being used by the donor community to promote reports that the private media in the southern African country were operating in a hostile environment. • DATE: August 21, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Allgemeine Zeitung VIOLATIONS: Legislation (sued) T he Buschschule Namibia, a European juvenile welfare service project, has sued Allgemeine Zeitung, a German daily newspaper, for publishing alleged defamatory and slanderous articles. In a series of articles that appeared in the newspaper’s February 21 2003 edition, the newspaper stated that a former staff member of Buschschule Namibia had filed a complaint against the youth aid organisation with the Foreign Office in Germany (the source of most its funding). • DATE: November 8, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Paulus Sackaria, Simon Haimbodi VIOLATIONS: Beaten, threatened, detained, equipment confiscated O n November 8 2003, journalist Paulus Sackarias and driver Simon Haimbodi, of the Afrikaans language daily Republikein, were threatened, assaulted and arrested by Namibian Special Field Force (SFF) members. The company vehicle was also confiscated by the SFF members. A young boy, who was acting as their guide, was also in the vehicle at the time. The incident occurred as Sackarias and Haimbodi were on their way to Onaame, 85 kilometres northwest of Oshakati, in the Omusati region, to attend a memorial service in honour of police constable Jakob Urbanus. So This Is Democracy? 2003 70 Media Institute of Southern Africa