News / National
Kereke withdraws charges against Standard newspaper journalists
20 Dec 2011 at 23:19hrs | Views
GREEN Card Medical Aid Society has withdrawn a case in which Standard newspaper editor Nevanji Madanhire and reporter Nqaba Matshazi were charged with theft, The Herald reported.
But the two are still facing criminal defamation charges as the State was not in a position to withdraw the matter since the complainant, Dr Munyaradzi Kereke, was not in attendance.
Dr Kereke owns Greed Card Medical Aid Society.
The medical aid society's chief executive officer Mr Simon Tapfumaneyi told the court yesterday that they had made the decision "whole-heartedly."
"We are doing this very willingly and quite sufficiently," he said
Madanhire and Matshazi were arrested after being accused of possessing stolen data and publishing a defamatory story over Green Card Medical Aid Society.
The journalists, who appeared before magistrate Ms Barbara Masinire, are out on US$100 bail.
They have surrendered their travel documents as part of the bail conditions.
The State had also applied to bar the Standard from publishing stories referring to the matter before the court.
But Ms Masinire dismissed the application, saying Madanhire was only an employee and did not have powers to make final decisions.
He said the complainant, Dr Kereke, should seek recourse in civil courts on his request to stop publication of the stories.
The documents Madanhire and Matshazi allegedly stole were on a desk belonging to Mr Tapfumaneyi.
Mr Tapfumaneyi had prepared the claims reports, financial statements and membership reports in preparation for a meeting with Dr Kereke.
It is alleged that Madanhire and Matshazi wrote a story containing false statements, which was later published in the Standard on November 12 headlined: "Kereke's medical aid firm collapses".
It is the State's case that the two published that Green Card Medical Aid Society members had made claims of about US$121 000 when the company had collected only US$87 600.
The paper reported that members of the medical aid firm were being turned away from health centres since it was failing to pay its creditors on time.
The journalists reported that Green Card Medical Aid Society was on the brink of collapse.
But the two are still facing criminal defamation charges as the State was not in a position to withdraw the matter since the complainant, Dr Munyaradzi Kereke, was not in attendance.
Dr Kereke owns Greed Card Medical Aid Society.
The medical aid society's chief executive officer Mr Simon Tapfumaneyi told the court yesterday that they had made the decision "whole-heartedly."
"We are doing this very willingly and quite sufficiently," he said
Madanhire and Matshazi were arrested after being accused of possessing stolen data and publishing a defamatory story over Green Card Medical Aid Society.
The journalists, who appeared before magistrate Ms Barbara Masinire, are out on US$100 bail.
They have surrendered their travel documents as part of the bail conditions.
The State had also applied to bar the Standard from publishing stories referring to the matter before the court.
He said the complainant, Dr Kereke, should seek recourse in civil courts on his request to stop publication of the stories.
The documents Madanhire and Matshazi allegedly stole were on a desk belonging to Mr Tapfumaneyi.
Mr Tapfumaneyi had prepared the claims reports, financial statements and membership reports in preparation for a meeting with Dr Kereke.
It is alleged that Madanhire and Matshazi wrote a story containing false statements, which was later published in the Standard on November 12 headlined: "Kereke's medical aid firm collapses".
It is the State's case that the two published that Green Card Medical Aid Society members had made claims of about US$121 000 when the company had collected only US$87 600.
The paper reported that members of the medical aid firm were being turned away from health centres since it was failing to pay its creditors on time.
The journalists reported that Green Card Medical Aid Society was on the brink of collapse.
Source - Herald online
