Zimbabwe The Media Defence Fund project has provided great relief to many journalists as government has resorted to litigation to intimidate journalists. MISA Zimbabwe believes that this is a deliberate plan to make media houses incur heavy legal costs that would eventually force them out of business. The Media Lawyers Network (MLN) has also assisted many journalists, especially those outside Harare. The members of the MLN have also actively participated in MISAZimbabwe advocacy activities. However, there were very little achievements in terms of media law reform. The period under review witnesses a dramatic increase in media attacks from the state that culminated in the closure of The Daily News on 12 September. The long awaited judgments on Capital Radio (Pvt) Ltd and IJAZ cases were handed down on 21 September 2003 and 5 February 2004 respectively. Both were a blow to media freedom. Although the Court declared that sections 6 and 9 of the BSA were unconstitutional (section 6 made Minister of Information the licensing authority and section 9 allowed only one other TV station after the ZBC), many of the repressive clauses were declared constitutional. In the IJAZ case, the Supreme Court declared that most sections challenged are constitutional. Most worrying in that judgment is that practising journalism without accreditation is a criminal offence. This leaves no room for further litigation by journalists in this area. The ANZ Supreme Court challenge was heard on 3 March 2004 and judgment was reserved. This is also worrying because the Supreme Court has been taking very long to pass judgments on important constitutional matters. MISA Annual Report (April 2003 – March 2004) 94