MISA-Zimbabwe Alert Update
20 June 2016
Beitbridge-based journalist Wellington Mukanhaire facing charges of breaching Section 78 (2) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) has been remanded to appear in court on 29 June 2016.
The section criminalises holding oneself as an accredited journalist without being so accredited. The offence attracts a maximum level fine or imprisonment not exceeding two years or to both fine and imprisonment.
Mukanhaire was initially charged with contravention of Section 83 (1) of AIPPA which criminalised practicing journalism without accreditation following his February 2016 arrest in Zimbabwe’s southern border town of Beitbridge. However, the charges were withdrawn before plea in March 2016 upon realisation that the offence no longer exists following its repeal in 2007.
