THE Sheriff of Zimbabwe has been ordered by the High Court to attach all properties owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network in Zimbabwe as security costs after one of its sources in the investigative documentary Gold Mafia filed an application suing them for US$2 million.
Mehluli Dube, the applicant, had approached the court claiming to have left employment with a good track record and solid relations with the former employer, saying the foreign-based media institution which conducts its operations via various media platforms had tarnished his reputation.
Al Jazeera provides a satellite television service in Zimbabwe through a company called MultiChoice under its DStv platform channel 406.
In his application before High Court judge Justice Siyabona Musithu, Dube approached the court for the attachment of the media firm’s property for purposes of confirming the jurisdiction of the court in a defamation claim he intends to institute against the peregrini (foreign company) Al Jazeera.
According to the background of the case, Dube claimed that between March 23 and April 14 last year, Al Jazeera released a documentary series titled Gold Mafia with four extensive and intrinsically related episodes.
He submitted that Al Jazeera claimed that the documentary was a product of two years of undercover investigations into gold trading activities by some prominent people in Zimbabwe.
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Dube further claimed that the series was an instant hit, accumulating over 12 million views on multiple platforms, saying the purpose of the documentary was allegedly to expose the smuggling of gold occurring in Zimbabwe and the individuals involved in the illegal gold trade.
He submitted that Episode 2 of the Gold Mafia series titled Smoke and Mirrors implicated him as having corruptly signed off licences for purchase and sale for one Kamlesh Pattini to facilitate the smuggling of gold and, in return, he is alleged to have received a monthly payment of US$3 000 for his services.
He said this episode had over 2,8 million views, which number gradually increased daily attracting over 24 000 likes and 4 500 comments.
Dube claimed that his implication in gold smuggling had done considerable damage to his image and reputation among his peers, family, the people of Zimbabwe and the world at large.
He said this was because the series had a large viewership arising from the respondent’s popularity and the damage was continuous as the material remained posted on its page and copies of the episodes had been made by third parties and circulated elsewhere.
Dube said on May 15, his legal practitioners wrote to Al Jazeera seeking proof of the allegations made against him, but they did not respond to the communication, prompting his legal practitioners to dispatch a letter of demand via email on May 24, 2023.
He submitted that Al Jazeera later responded to the latest email from his legal practitioners, but claimed to be unaware of the earlier communication.
The parties, however, failed to reach an amicable settlement, prompting the filing of the present application.
Dube intends to sue Al Jazeera for defamation damages in the sum of US$2 million emanating from what he calls falsehoods that were broadcast by it in the said series.
Dube claimed that Al Jazeera runs a bureau office at the Rainbow Towers in Harare, where it keeps multiple items of its trade such as laptops, computers, printers and state-of-the-art cameras.
Dube said Al Jazeera employees in Zimbabwe are alleged to have in possession assets in the form of state-of-the-art laptops, cameras and photographic equipment belonging to their employer saying the estimated value of the equipment was US$100 000.
However, Al Jazeera in an affidavit deposed by Philip Rees in his capacity as the director of Investigative Journalism, confirmed that Al Jazeera sublets a room at Rainbow Towers from the Rainbow Tourism Group Limited, saying the room was used as an editorial room by its employees.
Rees admitted that its employees had in their possession laptops and cameras which they used in carrying out their duties, but argued that these were tools of trade, that they moved around with locally and internationally.
Al Jazeera also acknowledged the existence of The Grange and the Milton Park properties in Harare, but argued that these belonged to its employees.
However Justice Musithu in analysing the case said the alleged defamatory statements which are attributed to Al Jazeera and which it does not dispute for reasons that it insists were truthful establish a prima facie cause of action.
The judge said if those statements turn up to be false, then the court will have to deal with the propriety of the defences available to Al Jazeera.
Justice Musithu said the parties should be allowed to have their day in court for the determination of their competing rights and the testing of the veracity of the allegations made against Dube.
The judge said he needs to balance the constitutional rights of both parties saying there is need for freedom of expression and freedom of the media, adding that freedom should also not include malicious injury to a person’s reputation or dignity.
“It is also in the public interest that the truthfulness of the allegations carried in the documentary, which attracted public interest, be tested in court of law.
“It has not been denied that the bureau office houses the equipment that the applicant wants attached to confirm the jurisdiction of the court. It was also not disputed that the equipment in the bureau office belongs to the respondent.
“The court would confine the attachment order to the equipment at the respondent’s bureau office and not the equipment that may be at the residences of its employees, since it was not denied that they may have equipment of their own. No connection was established between the equipment at the employees’ residences, if any, and the respondent.”
Justice Musithu, however, granted the application and ordered the Sheriff to attach and take into his possession Al Jazeera’s laptops, computers, printers, cameras and photographic equipment at its bureau offices at the Rainbow Towers Hotel, Harare.