Zimbabwean journalist Nqobani Ndlovu was released on 25 November, more than a week after he was arrested in connection with a report alleging that the police force was allowing former war veterans and retired officers to take up senior posts without sitting for promotional examinations.
His lawyers are now challenging the constitutionality of the law under which Ndlovu was charged. “We feel it does not constitute a crime and should be struck off Zimbabwe’s Constitution,” Attorney Josphat Tshuma was quoted by news sources as saying. Ndlovu’s legal counsel has requested that the matter be referred to the Supreme Court.
Section 31 of Zambia’s criminal law code punishes “publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state,” including “undermining public confidence in a law enforcement agency,” with up to twenty years in prison. In the past, the law has been criticized as being so broadly framed that it endangers journalists’ ability to practice their profession.
A reporter with The Standard newspaper, Ndlovu was charged with defaming the police commissioner and the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
Last Thursday, High Court judge Nicholas Matonsi dismissed the prosecutor’s appeal for an extended detention as being “entirely without merit.”
Ndlovu was originally granted bail on 22 November, but the authorities used a law allowing them to extend detentions by a week to keep the journalist in prison.