Ban on newspaper lifted

Zimbabwe's best-selling newspaper, The Daily News, won a court decision on Friday allowing it to publish pending a Supreme Court hearing. The privately-owned newspaper, along with its sister paper the Daily News on Sunday, were shut down by the police in September for operating without a license. Publishers the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), returned to the Administrative Court to seek an order to allow them to re-open while the Supreme Court prepared to hear an appeal by the government against an earlier decision to grant them a license. Judge Selo Nare enforced the court order obtained by the ANZ on 24 October, which ruled that the state-appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC) should grant the newspapers a licence by 30 November. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo reportedly condemned the verdict. He had earlier described the Administrative Court, which has similar powers to the High Court, as biased. Zimbabwe's controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act introduced last year requires all journalists and media houses to register with the MIC. The Daily News, Zimbabwe's only private daily, refused to comply, questioning the constitutionality of the law. However, after being shut down in September, it tried to register but the MIC turned down its application. The ANZ case has been highly controversial, with another Administrative Court judge, Michael Majuru, recusing himself after an article in the official Herald newspaper accused him of revealing his intended verdict prior to delivering the ruling. Nare read a letter in court on Friday, signed by "Liberators and Daughters and Sons of the Soil", which warned that "any bad judgement by you will result in serious suffering by you personally and members of your family." Daily News publisher Strive Masiyiwa reportedly said in a statement that the Daily News was planning a comeback edition for Friday.