Journalists are not above the law

Journalism is one of the noblest professions in the world in my view and I am proud to be one.

My heart bleeds however at an emerging crop of journalists who no longer value the ethics of the profession and go around willy-nilly breaking the law or even infringing on the rights of other citizens only to hide behind the guise of freedom of the press when asked to be accountable for their omissions and commissions.

Freedom of the press is a constitutional right, as enshrined in our own statutes.

However, this freedom is not a gateway to irresponsible reporting and should be monitored, as it is prone to abuse.

A disturbing trend has emerged whereby journalists in Zimbabwe rush to cry foul and allege persecution of the press each time a journalist is said to have broken the law by the relevant authorities.

Following the arrest of the Sunday Mail editor, Edmund Kudzayi, some sections of society have come out guns blazing accusing the ZANU-PF government of being ruthless, muzzling the press and intimidating journalists, among a myriad of other sinister accusations.

What all these people are forgetting is that noone is above the law and people should not hide behind the guise of being journalists.

Journalists are not untouchable supreme beings.

Kudzayi stands accused of attempting to commit acts of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism as well as subverting the constitutional government. He also faces two lesser charges of insulting the president and publishing falsehoods.

These allegations are not to be taken lightly and carry a life sentence upon conviction. As such, I do not think the Zimbabwe Republic Police would have committed themselves to arresting Kudzayi without proper investigation. The fact that they arrested him shows they believe they have something that links him to the crimes.

If his hands are clean, then the courts will set him free. Simple.

I do not know whether he is innocent or guilty, that's up to the courts to determine, as such I do not see the need to cry on his behalf as I am not qualified at law to gauge his innocence.

There is no need for lobbying or wailing on social networks and in the various media about the unfair treatment of journalists in Zimbabwe.

Of all the people who are crying foul over Kudzayi's arrest, noone has bothered to check whether the crimes he stands accused of hold water or not, what evidence the police have. To them, he just should not have been arrested period.

So what should the police do when they suspect a journalist has committed a crime? Beg him/her to confess from the comfort of their homes?

Should the police let journalists walk naked in the street for fear of being accused of muzzling the press?

Instead of making noise now, these journalists' unions and civic groups should let the law run its full course and if it emerges that the journalists were wrongly accused, then they can make all the proclamations and raucous they want and demand retribution.

As it is, they run the risk of being left with egg on the face one of these days.
To be a journalist does not mean that one should not be held accountable if he/she breaks the law and journalists should not rush to play the victim each time one of their own finds themselves on the wrong side of the law.

I have nothing against journalists, indeed I am one of them as mentioned earlier. I simply appreciate that it is just a profession like any other and the practitioners are as accountable as the next person for their actions.

It has been proved time and again that Zimbabwe's courts are fair and just. Only recently, the Constitutional Court made a landmark ruling decriminalising defamation.

In its ruling, a full bench comprising Justices Godfrey Chidyausiku, Luke Malaba, Vernanda Ziyambi, Elizabeth Gwaunza, Anne-Marie Gowora, Ben Hlatshwayo, Bharat Patel and Antoinette Guvava, ruled that "the offence (criminal defamation) is not reasonably justifiable in a democratic society and is inconsistent with freedom of expression guaranteed in the constitution".

The ruling came after former Standard editor Nevanji Madanhire and his reporter Nqaba Matshazi challenged criminal defamation in the ConCourt.

In the case, Madanhire and Matshazi were arrested for allegedly defaming founder and chairperson of the Green Card Medical Aid Society, Munyaradzi Kereke, in November 2011, but the Constitutional Court ruled criminal defamation has no place in a democratic society.

Why then do journalists not have faith in the courts and mourn as if their kith who are arrested face certain doom?

The Committee to Protect Journalists in Capetown, South Africa, released a statement calling on the Zimbabwe police to "immediately release" Kudzayi and "drop all charges".

So this committee wants an individual facing charges of banditry, insurgence and terrorism to be immediately released before the law has run its course? On what grounds, that he is a journalist?

Then we might as well not have courts to start with if proceedings in the country are to be directed by journalists unions, foreign for that matter, in the comfort of plush offices overlooking Table Mountain.

I have a question for the committee. If Kudzayi was a medical doctor instead of a journalist and facing the same charges, would they call for his immediate release?

I doubt that very much, but what is the difference between the two?

"Whatever political battles are being played out in Zimbabwe, we urge authorities to allow journalists to report freely on debate within government and the ruling party, the arrest and extremely harsh charges filed against Edmund Kudzayi are likely to have a chilling effect on all journalists, in turn depriving citizens of their right to information," said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Sue Valentine.

Point of correction, Madame Valentine. Inciting banditry and insurgency can never, at the furthest stretch of the imagination, be equated to "reporting freely on debate within government and the ruling party."

And why would journalists be "chilled" if they were not breaking the law?
This tendency of hiding behind the frills of press freedom should stop before the journalism skirt goes to the cleaners.