Zimbabwe: American Journalist Granted 24-Hour Deportation Reprieve

16 July 2002
allAfrica.com
By Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Johannesburg — U.S. journalist Andrew Meldrum, who was ordered on Monday to leave Zimbabwe within 24 hours, has been granted a one-day reprieve by a High Court judge in the capital, Harare.

Meldrum, veteran correspondent for the British Guardian newspaper, was given a day to pack up and leave Zimbabwe after living there for 22 years. The immigration order came minutes after he was found not guilty, by a magistrate’s court, of breaching strict new media laws by "publishing a false story".

Meldrum's lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, filed an urgent appeal, Monday, against his deportation. The case was scheduled for a High Court hearing on Tuesday morning. But government lawyers asked the court for a postponement to give them more time to prepare their case.

State prosecutor, Yvonne Dondo, said: "The (government) is prepared to extend the stay of the applicant (Meldrum) by a day to 5pm (15h00 GMT) tomorrow, to allow this application to be heard." Mtetwa had asked for an extension of her client’s expulsion order to allow her time to challenge its constitutionality.

The journalist’s appeal hearing is now set for 14h30(GMT) on Wednesday in the High Court.

The government of President Robert Mugabe has been sharply criticised for imposing tough new media laws which critics say are designed to silence the press in Zimbabwe. The authorities counter that the legislation is to ensure fair reporting and "ethical behaviour" and to stamp out "abuse of journalistic privilege".

Speaking during a state visit to Cuba, Mugabe, who pushed through the new laws days after his contested re-election in March, said the outcome of the Meldrum case would depend on the Zimbabwean justice system. "A person who committed a crime, he must be tried and the matter is with the courts," Mugabe told journalists in Havana.

Meldrum’s paper, the Guardian, ran an editorial on Tuesday calling his deportation "both thuggish and childish".

"We will appeal this order but, in reality, the game is up for Mr Meldrum. Even it were possible for him to stay, it would not longer be safe," it said.

Another dozen journalists are still awaiting trial in Zimbabwe, facing similar charges of publishing falsehoods. Conviction carries a hefty fine and up to two years in jail.

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