State of the media in Southern Africa - 2003 • DATE: June 11, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Media in Zimbabwe VIOLATIONS: Legislation O n June 11 2003, the Zimbabwean Parliament passed into law amendments to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). The government said the amendments are intended to correct anomalies and errors that became apparent after the law was signed by President Robert Mugabe in March 2002. • DATE: June 19, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Munyaradzi Huni VIOLATIONS: Threatened T he Sunday Mail, a weekly newspaper in which the Zimbabwean government is the majority shareholder, has put its political editor, Munyaradzi Huni, under 24-hour guard. Huni has been receiving threats from unknown persons. • DATE: June 24, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Bill Saidi VIOLATIONS: Detained (charged) O n June 24 2003, Bill Saidi, editor of The Daily News on Sunday, a sister paper of The Daily News, was charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for allegedly publishing a false story in 2002. • DATE: June 26, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Nqobile Nyathi VIOLATIONS: Detained (charged) O n June 26 2003, The Daily News editor Nqobile Nyathi was arrested and charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for allegedly publishing advertisements insulting the president. Nyathi confirmed that she had been summoned to Harare Central Police Station. “I was summoned to the public order and security section at the Central Police Station,” said Nyathi. • DATE: June 30, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Sam Nkomo, Moreblessing Mpofu, Gugulethu Moyo, Philemon Bulawayo VIOLATIONS: Detained (charged) S am Nkomo, chief executive officer of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of The Daily News, Moreblessing Mpofu, the newspaper’s commercial director, and Gugulethu Moyo, the ANZ’s legal advisor, were charged under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) on June 30 2003. Moyo told MISA-Zimbabwe that Nkomo and Mpofu were charged under Section 16 of the POSA for allegedly running advertisements in The Daily News that “denigrated President Robert Mugabe”. • DATE: August 9, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Flata Kavinga VIOLATIONS: Beaten So This Is Democracy? 2003 123 Media Institute of Southern Africa