JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE 43 ____________________________________________________________________ Court. See Appendix 3 for comment upon Mr Mangota’s conduct and other aspects of this case by The Financial Gazette. In the result, it seems, a blatant contempt has so far gone unpunished. The Meldrum case Andrew Meldrum is an American journalist who is employed by The Guardian newspaper in England. He has worked in Zimbabwe for the last twenty-two years and had permanent resident status. He wrote a story for The Guardian based on a report in a Zimbabwean newspaper, The Daily News, on the alleged beheading of a woman in Magunje by ZANU (PF) supporters. This story turned out to be false and both The Daily News and The Guardian later apologised for publishing the story. Mr Meldrum was charged with contravening s 80(1)(b) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act [Chapter 10:27], namely of abusing journalistic privilege by publishing a falsehood. On 15 July 2002 the regional magistrate trying the case acquitted him of this charge. The magistrate found that this offence required proof of intention and that the journalist lacked the required intention as he had acted reasonably in the circumstances. Mr Meldrum had not originated the story and had clearly stated that it was a Daily News story. He had tried to verify the story by checking with the police. The police did not dispute his claim that they refused to talk to him. But a few minutes after the court verdict, immigration officers served Mr Meldrum with an order to leave the country within twenty-four hours. The deportation order had been signed by the Minister of Home Affair on 3 July 2002, which meant that the Minister had decided in advance of the verdict that Mr Meldrum would be deported even if he was acquitted. This move to deport Mr Meldrum was heavily criticised by the international community, which condemned it as a vindictive punitive measure imposed even though he had been found innocent of the charge by a court of law. The lawyers acting for Mr Meldrum brought an urgent application in the High Court challenging the validity and constitutionality of the deportation order. On 17 July