7 November, 2008
Press Secretariat, State House
Press Secretary wins Zimbabwean Email Case against Awareness Times Newspaper
The
case between Press Secretary to the President Sheka Tarawalie, representing the Office of the President, and Awareness Times
newspaper publisher Sylvia Blyden, regarding the latter’s publication of alleged emails from Zimbabwe berating President
Koroma, has been concluded by the Independent Media Commission, resulting to a fine of seven hundred and fifty thousand leones
being imposed on the publisher for deliberately publishing “misleading and distorted information contrary to several
provisions of the IMC Code of Conduct.”
Here is the full text of
the IMC decision:
COMPLAINT BY SHEKA TARAWALIE, PRESS
SECRETARY TO THE PRESIDENT, AGAINST AWARENESS TIMES NEWSPAPER – ARTICLE CAPTIONED ‘APC VIOLENCE CONDEMNED FROM
ZIMBABWE’ ON 10TH JULY 2008
The Independent Media Commission deliberated on
a complaint from Mr. Sheka Tarawalie, Press Officer, State House, with regard to what he termed “unprofessional, defamatory
and fabricated” article against H.E. the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma. The article which was captioned: - ‘APC
VIOLENCE CONDEMEND FROM ZIMBABWE’ was published on the front page of the Awareness Times on the 10th July
2008 edition.
Mr. Sheka Tarawalie told the Complaints Committee
that the statements were not only defamatory and malicious but they eroded the integrity of the Office of the President. The
paper alleged in its publication of Thursday 10th July 2008 that it had received emails from ‘Zimbabweans
living in Zimbabwe’ describing the President of Sierra Leone, among other things, as “the real disgrace to Africa
and not Robert Mugabe.’ The newspaper quoted names of the email senders as being ‘Pastor Peter Oremidi’,
‘Dr Charles Manyevere’ and ‘Dr Rudolph Chipanga.’ The State House Press Office stated that from their
research conducted such names are “at best fictitious” and challenged the newspaper to publish the said emails
to authenticate the article which she had failed to do.
The Complaints
Committee conducted several hearings on the matter during which the complainant and defendant were interviewed. The defendant
refused to produce copies of the emails stating that they were confidential documents forwarded to her. Thereupon, the Commission
engaged the services of an IT expert from Tiwai Memory Masters in Freetown and insisted that Dr. Blyden produce the emails
sent to her by “Zimbabweans living in Zimbabwe.”
On close study,
the IT expert from Tiwai Memory Masters, in the presence of Dr Blyden, found out that at least one of the three emails she
made available came from India. Dr Blyden admitted that to be true.
The
Awareness Times Proprietress refused to further cooperate with the Commission to determine the origins of the rest of the
emails.
Be that as it may, the Committee concluded that
the Awareness Times had deliberately published misleading and distorted information contrary to several provisions of the
IMC Code of Conduct including Article 1 which deals with the question of accuracy. The IMC therefore fines the Awareness Times
Le 750,000 (seven hundred and fifty thousand leones) and directs that the Editor publishes a retraction on the front page
of her newspaper giving it the same prominence as the offending article. The IMC further directs that the Proprietress writes
a letter of apology to the President and copied the Chairperson of the IMC. All of these orders are to be executed within
seven days of receipt of the letter from the IMC.
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