INDEPENDENT DAILY'S FATE REMAINS UNCERTAIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000249 SIPDIS AF/S FOR BNEULING NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE, D. TEITELBAUM PARIS FOR C. NEARY E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KPAO ZI SUBJECT: INDEPENDENT DAILY'S FATE REMAINS UNCERTAIN REF: A. HARARE 180 ¶B. 04 HARARE 302 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.4 b/d ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A favorable Supreme Court judgment in the case of The Daily News, which was shut down by the GOZ in September 2003, was expected on February 7 but was not announced. Sources say Supreme Court Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku suppressed the announcement due to his annoyance that news of the decision had been leaked. Even if there is ultimately a favorable court judgment, The Daily News faces other legal and financial challenges before it can begin printing. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On January 27, the weekly Financial Gazette carried a front-page article proclaiming that on February 7 the Supreme Court would announce its judgment regarding The Daily News (TDN) and The Daily News on Sunday, which were closed down in September 2003 for failing to register under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) (reftels). ¶3. (C) A court official told us that the decision was in fact scheduled to be announced on February 7 but that Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, infuriated that the information was leaked, decided to postpone the announcement. The official said the judgment would now be announced much closer to March 31, the date of parliamentary elections, giving the opposition as little time as possible to make use of an independent daily in advance of the elections. Even if there is a favorable judgment, ANZ may still need to apply for registration with the state Media and Information Commission (MIC),which could cause further delays in publication. ¶4. (C) Acting Editor of TDN John Gambanga told a PAS staff member on February 8 that he understood a Labor Court decision on the status of hundreds of employees ANZ laid off after the paper was shut down is expected simultaneously with the Supreme Court decision and is to be in favor of the laid-off employees, forcing ANZ to pay additional severance that would make resuming publishing very difficult. Gambanga also said that, even without the additional severance, paying the staff needed to resume printing would be challenging, because he expects to have to pay employees about ten times what staff in the same positions made in 2003, due to inflation. In addition, ANZ would need to contract experts from Sweden, where the company bought its printing press, to help start running the press again. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: The Chief Justice,s pique seems remarkably convenient. The GOZ may calculate that a decision in favor of the ANZ just before elections could be used to substantiate "progress" on SADC election principles--while being too late to make a measurable difference in leveling the playing field. DELL