Legislative and institutional reform was not a priority for the government and such repressive laws continued to be used selectively by unreformed state institutions and actors to prevent constitutional freedoms from being exercised due to lack of political will and failure to censure heavy-handed action whenever it occurred. There were attacks on the media, judges and lawyers, use of repressive laws against targeted civil society organizations (CSOs) and human rights defenders (HRDs) and criminalization of free speech. There were 60 cases in which section 33 of the Criminal Law Code was arbitrarily applied since 2010 on individuals who were charged with allegedly “insulting or undermining the authority of the President” . The Broadcasting Services Act [Chapter 12:06], (the Broadcasting Services Act) continued to be used to stifle lawfully operational alternative media and voices. Through it, the police, since the beginning of the year, arbitrarily sought to “ban” alternative sources of media – namely short-wave radios thereby depriving people in rural communities of alternative sources of information as they could not afford to buy newspapers, and in most cases, there is no frequency for state controlled broadcasting. President Robert Mugabe was nominated onto the list of the ‘world’s predators of information’ as the world commemorated Press Freedom Day.6 The nomination was based on the grounds that for ten years he suppressed freedom of expression ahead of the elections and prevented the creation of any independent radio or TV station in Zimbabwe, thereby ensuring that the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) kept its monopoly of broadcasting. He , exercised strict control over the state media, through his ministers and his party, constantly harassed privately owned print media through their ministerial and executive organs, and prevented the power-sharing government from functioning properly, thereby blocking media reforms. Government tightened its control on electronic media. On 01 October 2013, it enacted the Postal and Telecommunications (Subscriber Registration) Regulations, 2013, (Statutory Instrument 142 of 2013) which permit its security agencies to spy into people’s telephone call records, text messages and internet communication. Previously, government could only have access to people’s phone records when it was absolutely necessary, usually when following up criminal or other serious offences7. This was on top of the banning of wind up radios and bulk text messaging reported below. However in a slightly positive gesture, on 9 October 2013, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo toured the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe facilities in Harare to get an appreciation of the Daily News’ operations. He had also met Trevor Ncube, a private media mogul in a meeting whose agenda was for the government and private media to bury the hatchet and have a new start. Speaking during the visit, he said Government would assist media houses, including private ones, to overcome challenges they are encountering in their operations. He also said every media house in the country was having challenges in the importation of newsprint, printing material and equipment and a business approach was needed to address the problems. Critics construed his talks with Trevor Ncube as a move to close ranks and silence critical media. Yet on 25 October 2013, the Deputy Minister of Information, Supa Mandiwanzira in responding to a question from Mashonaland Central Senator Alice Chimbudzi (Zanu-PF) on what Government was doing to deal with private radio stations apparently said “The Ministry considers these pirate radio stations as a nuisance that we must get rid of. In the majority of cases the Zimbabweans who listen to these pirate radio stations do so out of desperation because they are unable to get a signal of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation in the area they stay. So they have no choice and end up, by default, listening to these pirate radio stations.” 8 The same Deputy Minister has a controlling stake in Star FM, a private radio station not opposed by the ZANU-PF controlled ministry that he is deputy of. On a positive note, on 08 November 2013, Zimbabwe’s highest court declared unconstitutional a law which makes it a crime to insult the president. In this matter, Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba 6 http://www.zimeye.org/?p=90871 7 http://www.davidcoltart.com/2013/10/david-coltart-blog-ministry-of-information-appears-determined-to- violate-zimbabwes-constitution/#sthash.yfekhufI.dpuf 8 Free & Fair elections article; Zim man sentenced as Mnangagwa fights to defend insult laws dated 21 No vember 2013 accessible here http://www.zimbabweelection.com/2013/11/22/zim-man-sentenced-as- mnangagwa-fights-to-defend-insult-laws/ 30