Case History: Owen Gagare

On 7 May 2013, journalists and human rights defenders Mr Dumisani Muleya and Mr Owen Gagare, respectively editor and chief reporter of the weekly newspaper Zimbabwe Independent, were arrested in Harare for publishing an article two weeks earlier alleging meetings took place between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and top military officials. They were released on the same day and charged with contravening the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

Dumisani Muleya and Owen Gagare were summoned to Harare Central Police Station’s Criminal Investigation Department, Law and Order Section, where they were detained for almost seven hours before being released. Both journalists were charged under Section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification & Reform) Act, which deals with publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State.

The arrest and charges refer to a report written by Owen Gagare and published by the weekly newspaper Zimbabwe Independent on 26 April 2013. The article reports on alleged talks between Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and top security service chiefs. The independent journalists were arrested in spite of having quoted MDC-T defence and security secretary Mr Giles Mutsekwa confirming that he held talks with the military officials.

The arrest of the two journalists comes at a time of heightened attacks on the Zimbabwean media, and other journalists have also been summoned by police over articles they have published. Independent media outlets have found it difficult to operate in the country. Last week, President Robert Mugabe was declared a press “predator” in Reporters without Borders’s 2013 Press Freedom Index.