This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 002454 
 
SIPDIS 
 
ECA/PE/V/F/E for RNEILSON AND ECONNOLLY 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER & D. TITLEBAUM 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PGOV KPAO KMDR ZI
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT SHUTTERS DAILY NEWS -- AGAIN 
 
REF: (A) HARARE 2309 (B) HARARE 1997 and previous 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET POSTING. 
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
  ¶1.   SUMMARY: Armed riot police prevented The Daily News 
     (TDN) from publishing following an administrative court 
     ruling December 19 permitting the paper to resume 
     operations.  The developments confirm the government's 
     intention to keep TDN closed regardless of any court rulings 
     - at least until the Supreme Court rules on the case next 
     year.  END SUMMARY 
 
  ¶2.   The President of the Administrative Court, Justice Selo 
     ¶M. Nare, handed down a judgment December 19 allowing 
     enforcement of the September 24 judgment made by 
     Administrative Court Justice Michael Majuru, which permitted 
     the TDN to publish after November 30 (reftels).  Nare ruled 
     that the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe should be allowed 
     to publish notwithstanding the filing of a notice of appeal 
     in the Supreme Court by the Media and Information Commission 
     (MIC).  Justice Nare found in favor for the ANZ on the basis 
     that the MIC would not suffer any potential or actual 
     irreparable harm if leave to enforce the previous judgment 
     were granted.  Nare ruled that the ANZ stood to suffer 
     irreparable harm or prejudice if leave to execute pending 
     appeal was denied, and that the MIC appeal to the Supreme 
     Court was frivolous and vexatious. 
 
  ¶3.   By its terms, the Nare ruling allowed TDN to resume 
     operations even as the MIC appeal wound its way through the 
     Supreme Court.  ANZ legal advisor Gugulethu Moyo confirmed 
     to the embassy December 23 that the police responded swiftly 
     to the judgment by going to the TDN offices on December 19 
     to stop TDN from publishing.  Moyo told us that ANZ wrote a 
     letter to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Augustine Chihuri 
     on December 20 noting that the police were acting 
     unlawfully.  The Commissioner has not yet responded to the 
     letter.  Moyo does not anticipate that the Supreme Court, 
     which is in recess, will hear the MIC appeal until next 
     year. 
 
  ¶4.   COMMENT: Like those before it, TDN's latest favorable 
     judgment has proven a dead end.  Orchestrating government 
     efforts to eliminate the publication once and for all is 
     Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, whose government- 
     controlled press continues to cast TDN as a key pillar of 
     British efforts to overthrow Mugabe.  Characterizing the 
     judge's opinion as "blatantly political", the American- 
     educated Minister publicly justified the police's action by 
     ascribing to them responsibility for implementing law that 
     courts were only empowered "to interpret".   ANZ personnel 
     are increasingly despondent about the future of TDN and its 
     prospects of publishing in the near future.  Asked about the 
     way forward, ANZ attorney Moyo responded only that further 
     legal action would be a "futile exercise" in view of the de 
     facto bar against publication.