Bulawayo – The trial in Zimbabwe of New York Times freelancer Jeffrey Moyo, accused of arranging fake accreditation for two colleagues, ended on Monday with his lawyers seeking to have the case dismissed.
Jeffrey Moyo, 37, was arrested in May last year on allegations of providing fake media accreditation cards to South Africa-based NYT reporters Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva so they could enter neighouring Zimbabwe for a week-long assignment.
Moyo was released on bail three weeks later, while the NYT pair were expelled back to South Africa four days after their arrival.
The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), which is responsible for issuing media accreditation, claimed the journalists had been denied clearance to work in the country and that their names did not appear on their accreditation register.
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Zimbabwe has a history of thorny relations with the foreign press.
It introduced legislation in the early 2000s barring foreign journalists from working in the country for long periods and requiring them to seek accreditation for every assignment.
The law has since been scrapped, but accompanying regulations remain on the books.
Several state witnesses, including ZMC officials, testified during the trial which started last month.
A senior ZMC official, Academy Chinamhora, said the duo had not obtained written approval from the information ministry as is standard practice.
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But the defence argued that the ZMC is an autonomous body empowered to make independent decisions without interference from the information ministry.
Defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa asked Chinamhora if any law compels foreign journalists to be cleared by the information ministry before obtaining accreditation cards.
“I am aware that there is no such law but we cannot say the ministry is interfering with the work of ZMC,” said Chinamhora, who was the last witness on Monday. “In my view it’s operational cooperation between the two organisations.”
Regional magistrate Mark Dzira ordered that the application for dismissal be submitted by February 27, and a final ruling is expected on March 7.
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Source: AFP
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