JOHANNESBURG - The Citizen’s battle for freedom of expression in the Constitutional Court is gaining momentum as two heavyweight organisations have come on board in support of the newspaper’s challenge.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) and the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) announced yesterday that they would apply to be admitted as friends of the court in a matter between The Citizen and former Ekurhuleni Metro police boss Robert McBride.
“Sanef has taken the decision because it is deeply concerned that through a majority Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling, a law intended to foster reconciliation in the country has the extraordinary power to censor historical fact by declaring that a particular conviction did not take place and that to state that the conviction did occur is ‘false’.”
The SCA recently found against The Citizen, ruling that the paper had defamed McBride by referring to him as a murderer when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had granted him amnesty for a bombing which killed three and injured 69.
Said Sanef: “The SCA ruling raises a fundamental issue of press freedom in that it would compel the media to be party to the falsification of history, with dire consequences for their credibility. The SCA decision was based on a section in the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act which states that amnesty expunges the conviction and sentence from all official records and also that ‘the conviction shall for all purposes ... be deemed not to have taken place’ – the sentence that turns fact into falsehood.”
FXI acting executive director Melissa Moore said the judgment had the effect of silencing legitimate and vital public comment on human rights violations that took place during apartheid under the guise of reconciliation.
“The court has, in our view, failed to distinguish between the forgiveness of past offences and the sweeping under the carpet of inconvenient, hard-hitting and truthful debate on a matter of manifest public interest, which objective is paramount in the pursuit of justice,” she added.
The Citizen’s editor, Martin Williams, was pleased by the decisions of Sanef and the FXI.
“I appreciate that Sanef’s position does not mean it is aligning itself with what we said about McBride. The issue here is an SCA ruling which effectively means we may not tell the truth about the past, no matter which side of the struggle is being referred to.
“As journalists we have a duty to strive to uphold the truth.
“I am grateful that Caxton, our holding company, has the vision to take this matter further,” he said.
By Cedric Mboyisa - cedricm@citizen.co.za The Citizen 11/03/10
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