zimbabwe: Trial by the Media

The Media Monitoring Project deplores the flagrant disregard for the due process of the law demonstrated by The Herald, which convicted opposition MDC MP Learnmore Jongwe of murdering his wife before any trial by a court in its editorial comment on Tuesday, July 23rd.

The killing of Rutendo Muusha-Jongwe was a terrible act of domestic violence that cannot be condoned. But in The Herald’s efforts to link this tragic incident to political violence and the silence of Western nations, the newspaper demonstrated its contempt for the proper administration of justice by usurping the work of the court in declaring that Rutendo had been murdered.

The paper declared:

“His (Jongwe’s) butchering of a defenceless woman is quite telling of the MDC’s disposition towards human rights…

“Unfortunately, violence begets violence and the chilling murder of Rutendo has shown how this violence is now being directed against its own innocent women.”

In this grossly unethical attempt to manipulate a personal tragedy for political gain, the paper ignored the regulations relating to the administration of justice and the fundamental constitutional right that every individual is entitled to a fair trial. For this reason any public comment likely to prejudice this right is forbidden and would constitute contempt of the court charged with conducting the trial.

The emotional nature of The Herald’s editorial and its repeated use of the word “murder” evidently ignores this basic rule and amounts to an unacceptable conviction by the media.

It was not the only paper to commit this basic offence: The Sunday Mirror carried a picture of Rutendo on its front page under the heading “Brutally Murdered” and compounded this error in the first sentence of its news story about the incident: “MDC Member of Parliament for Kuwadzana Judah Learnmore Jongwe who brutally murdered his wife is now facing murder charges.”

The reporter’s unequivocal statement, that the MP had murdered his wife, clearly pre-empts any court verdict on the matter and similarly constitutes an erosion of the right to a fair trial.

These are examples of unethical journalism at its worst and MMPZ expects justice to be dispensed accordingly.

It is not the first time such offences have been committed by Zimbabwe’s media and even public figures.

MMPZ believes that if Zimbabwe is to avoid becoming a country governed by the law of the jungle, it is the duty of the media and those in authority to bring an end to this gross affront to the administration of justice.