News / National
Zim journalist wants full hearing in Zwambila case
04 Jan 2014 at 08:34hrs | Views
AUSTRALIA-BASED Zimbabwean journalist Reason Wafawarova wants the courts in that country to set aside a default judgment by a Canberra judge which found him guilty of defaming Zimbabwe's outgoing ambassador in that country, Ms Jacqueline Zwambila.
In a statement yesterday, Wafawarova said he wanted the matter to proceed to a full hearing so that he could justify his claims.
Ms Zwambila sued Wafawarova for defamation after the journalist reported that the envoy stripped in front of embassy staff during a heated argument.
But Wafawarova said there was overwhelming evidence against Ms Zwambila.
"The application by the claimant to have my defence struck out on obnoxious technicalities is nothing but a cowardly attempt at escaping a full hearing of the case, a shameful fleeing from glaring and irrefutable evidence," said Wafawarova.
"That will not be allowed to happen. The Zimbabwe Embassy in Canberra still stands with allegations it raised against Ms Zwambila on November 11 2011 and in its latest media statement the embassy has categorically stated those allegations as fact, and that makes it more compelling for the court case to be heard on its merits."
Wafawarova said there had been misleading and inaccurate reports by The Canberra Times about the judgment by the judge.
"Firstly, it is absolutely unfounded that it is the ACT Supreme Court's position that I am ‘an agent of the Mugabe regime' or that any allegations raised against Zwambila were "false".
"These words belong entirely to Ms Zwambila and her handlers at Canberra Times. They are not the court's position."
"Essentially, the words are a pathetic attempt at smearing my image, and they are part of a larger conspiracy that once led to two court cases in 2007 and 2009, where attempts to have me removed from Australia were thwarted after protracted court hearings.
"It is Ms Zwambila that accepted to serve the Mugabe-led government as its ambassador, and for her to label someone outside that government an agent of the same is plain ridiculous.
"While it is the option of anyone facing destitution to try everything in the book to avoid such a predicament, it is highly preposterous that one would try to hoodwink immigration authorities into granting them a protection visa by publicly pretending that the ACT Supreme Court has discovered ‘an agent' of Mugabe when the court has not even heard the merits of this case.
"You do not make such ludicrous politicisation of a purely civil matter of this nature without making a complete fool of yourself," said Wafawarova.
He accused Ms Zwambila and her legal team of avoiding a full hearing of the case because they could not confront the evidence against the latter.
"What the Supreme Court did was to strike out my defence on the technicality that I had refused to submit certain documents demanded by Ms Zwambila's legal team, which in my opinion have nothing to do with the case.
"No allegation raised against Ms Zwambila was found to be false by the court because the matter did not go for hearing. Any suggestion by the Canberra Times or any other media outlet that allegations against Ms Zwambila were proved to be false are nothing but a pathetic sense of mischievous imagination.
"It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that The Canberra Times are doing Ms Zwambila's bidding in the hope that the paper can help her escape a fate of hopelessness back in Zimbabwe where the only thing she needs to be protected from is the awaiting poverty.
"The ongoing court case has nothing to do with Ms Zwambila's unemployment woes, and trying to buttress her case for access to Australia's social welfare benefits by using this court case as basis for whatever pretensions is frankly puerile," he said.
Ms Zwambila claimed the article by Wafawarova injured her reputation and profession adding that the story was motivated by malice.
Ms Zwambila is reported to have reached a confidential settlement with The Australian newspaper which carried a similar story.
Wafawarova's story was published in November 2010.
In a statement yesterday, Wafawarova said he wanted the matter to proceed to a full hearing so that he could justify his claims.
Ms Zwambila sued Wafawarova for defamation after the journalist reported that the envoy stripped in front of embassy staff during a heated argument.
But Wafawarova said there was overwhelming evidence against Ms Zwambila.
"The application by the claimant to have my defence struck out on obnoxious technicalities is nothing but a cowardly attempt at escaping a full hearing of the case, a shameful fleeing from glaring and irrefutable evidence," said Wafawarova.
"That will not be allowed to happen. The Zimbabwe Embassy in Canberra still stands with allegations it raised against Ms Zwambila on November 11 2011 and in its latest media statement the embassy has categorically stated those allegations as fact, and that makes it more compelling for the court case to be heard on its merits."
Wafawarova said there had been misleading and inaccurate reports by The Canberra Times about the judgment by the judge.
"Firstly, it is absolutely unfounded that it is the ACT Supreme Court's position that I am ‘an agent of the Mugabe regime' or that any allegations raised against Zwambila were "false".
"These words belong entirely to Ms Zwambila and her handlers at Canberra Times. They are not the court's position."
"Essentially, the words are a pathetic attempt at smearing my image, and they are part of a larger conspiracy that once led to two court cases in 2007 and 2009, where attempts to have me removed from Australia were thwarted after protracted court hearings.
"It is Ms Zwambila that accepted to serve the Mugabe-led government as its ambassador, and for her to label someone outside that government an agent of the same is plain ridiculous.
"While it is the option of anyone facing destitution to try everything in the book to avoid such a predicament, it is highly preposterous that one would try to hoodwink immigration authorities into granting them a protection visa by publicly pretending that the ACT Supreme Court has discovered ‘an agent' of Mugabe when the court has not even heard the merits of this case.
He accused Ms Zwambila and her legal team of avoiding a full hearing of the case because they could not confront the evidence against the latter.
"What the Supreme Court did was to strike out my defence on the technicality that I had refused to submit certain documents demanded by Ms Zwambila's legal team, which in my opinion have nothing to do with the case.
"No allegation raised against Ms Zwambila was found to be false by the court because the matter did not go for hearing. Any suggestion by the Canberra Times or any other media outlet that allegations against Ms Zwambila were proved to be false are nothing but a pathetic sense of mischievous imagination.
"It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that The Canberra Times are doing Ms Zwambila's bidding in the hope that the paper can help her escape a fate of hopelessness back in Zimbabwe where the only thing she needs to be protected from is the awaiting poverty.
"The ongoing court case has nothing to do with Ms Zwambila's unemployment woes, and trying to buttress her case for access to Australia's social welfare benefits by using this court case as basis for whatever pretensions is frankly puerile," he said.
Ms Zwambila claimed the article by Wafawarova injured her reputation and profession adding that the story was motivated by malice.
Ms Zwambila is reported to have reached a confidential settlement with The Australian newspaper which carried a similar story.
Wafawarova's story was published in November 2010.
Source - Chronicle
