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Andrew Meldrum to be deported from Zimbabwe

15 July 2002

His Excellency President Robert Mugabe
Office of the President
Causeway, Harare
Zimbabwe

Fax: + 263 4 728 799 / 708 820 / 734 644

Vienna, 15 July 2002

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, leading journalists and media executives, is deeply disturbed by the decision of the government to deport the Zimbabwe correspondent for the British newspaper, The Guardian.

On the basis of information provided to IPI, on 15 July, Andrew Meldrum, a United States citizen who has lived in Zimbabwe for over 20 years and who holds a permanent residency permit, was informed by the Department of Immigration that he must leave the country within 24 hours. "The Department of Immigration has come and said he must leave the country� They gave us no reasons", said Beatrice Mtetwa, a lawyer for Meldrum.

The decision came shortly after Meldrum was found not guilty by a Harare court of publishing falsehoods under the harsh Access to Information and Privacy Act. Meldrum was prosecuted under the act for publishing a false story that Zanu-PF supporters had decapitated a woman in a rural district of Zimbabwe. The story was first published in the independent Daily News which promptly apologised upon discovering it was untrue. However, the story was printed in The Guardian on 24 April. As a result, Meldrum was arrested on 1 May and interrogated by police.

Commenting on the revocation of his permanent residency permit, Meldrum said to Reuters, "This is consistent with a government that is trying to stop me from reporting what is going on here. I�m trying to see what I can do and I will consult my lawyer right now."

Regarding the deportation, it is clear that Your Excellency�s government had already decided to take the law into its own hands. Indeed, it appears that the deportation order had already been signed on 3 July. A fact which reveals the government�s profound contempt for the Zimbabwean legal system because, irrespective of the decision of the court, it had already decided to deport Meldrum. IPI is appalled by this decision and believes it has serious implications for press freedom in Zimbabwe.

By seeking to deport Meldrum, the government of Zimbabwe is indicating that it stands outside the rule of law. Meldrum was arrested for an offence and has been found innocent after a trial, however, this has not saved him from being found guilty by the state. In deciding to act in this manner, the government has shorn itself of the last vestiges of democratic behaviour and rightly stands condemned.

Concerning the future of the Access to Information and Privacy Act, IPI believes that the decision of the court means that it is irrevocably tarnished and should be removed from the statute books. IPI notes the statement of Judge Godfrey Macheyo who said, "He (Meldrum) acted like a reasonable journalist and tried to verify the story. He tried to contact the police who could not confirm the story to him. It cannot reasonably be said that he had a guilty intention". It is the strong belief of IPI that the other prosecutions under this discredited law should be discontinued.

With the above in mind, IPI invites Your Excellency to rescind the decision to deport Meldrum and remove the Access to Information and Privacy Act from the statute books. By doing so you will be upholding freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

Best regards,

Johann P. Fritz
Director

Background note:
Zimbabwe was placed on the IPI Watch List on 20 October 2001. In its press release IPI said, "[It] is deeply concerned at attempts to extinguish press freedom in the country against a background of government support for this activity and a reluctance to prosecute offenders, restrictions imposed, or contemplated, by the government on the media, and the breakdown of the rule of law."

Read Country Reports on 'Zimbabwe':

2007 World Press Freedom Review
2006 World Press Freedom Review
2005 World Press Freedom Review
2004 World Press Freedom Review
2004 World Press Freedom Review
2003 World Press Freedom Review
2002 World Press Freedom Review
2001 World Press Freedom Review
2000 World Press Freedom Review
1999 World Press Freedom Review
1998 World Press Freedom Review

'Zimbabwe' is on the IPI Watch List!

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Journalists killed in 'Zimbabwe':

2007 (1)

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