Zimbabwean editors arrested for story about local businessman

11 Oct 2012

The editor of the privately-owned Daily News, Stanley Gama and his deputy Chris Goko, were arrested and detained at the Harare Central Police station on 8 October 2012, over a story alleging that the disappearance of a local businessman's family was a hoax. The journalists spent four hours at the police station.

Prior to being released, Gama and Goko signed warn and caution statements, in which they denied the allegations that businessman Munyaradzi Kereke finds defamatory.

Gama and Goko were arrested after the Daily News published a news article which alleged that Kereke's report on his missing family was a plot used to deceive people. The article said that Kereke did so in a bid to substantiate claims that his life was in danger from a multiplicity of forces, including governor Gideon Gono - of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe - and unnamed security agents. Kereke is a former advisor to Gono.

Speaking to the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Gama described he and his colleague's arrest as worrisome, but vowed they would continue to tell it like it is, and fulfil their duties without fear.

The story in question was reportedly lifted from New Zimbabwe, an online news service. Kereke says the story is based on falsehoods and could jeopardise the manhunt for his wife and their four year-old daughter. He is claiming US$25 million in a criminal defamation lawsuit.

Continue reading the full story on www.ifex.org