BishopAccountability.org
	Broadcaster: No Malice in Airing Archbishop's Alleged Sex Pictures Monsters and Critics July 20, 2007 http://news.monstersandcritics.com/africa/news/article_1332638.php/Broadcaster_No_malice_in_airing_archbishops_alleged_sex_pictures Harare - Zimbabwe's state broadcaster Friday protested that there was no malice behind its airing of footage of Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube's alleged sexual encounters. Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) head Henry Muradzikwa said ZBC TV fiercely defended the decision to repeatedly air video footage of the archbishop, an outspoken government critic. 'Archbishop Pius Ncube is a public figure and he is expected by society to abide by certain moral ethics,' Muradzikwa said. 'What ZBC did is fair comment, with no malice and for the benefit of the public,' the chief executive was quoted as saying. Ncube became the subject of a sex scandal when he was served with court papers on Monday by a Bulawayo resident, who is suing the cleric for allegedly having an adulterous affair with his estranged wife. State media went into overdrive, making the scandal a top news item. Some pictures, filmed by a hidden camera that was reportedly placed by a private investigator, have already been posted on the internet and published in newspapers, ZBC said Friday. Ncube's lawyers in a letter on Wednesday called on state television station to stop broadcasting the pictures, which they said were highly offensive and defamatory, according to reports. The cleric's lawyers say the pictures were also in serious breach of the country's press laws. Zimbabwe's Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, notorious for curtailing press freedom, contains clauses that protects individuals from what is termed an unreasonable invasion of their privacy. But Muradzikwa said ZBC was prepared to defend in court its decision to air the pictures. The scandal that has embroiled Ncube, who is the archbishop of the city of Bulawayo, has proved a boon to President Robert Mugabe's government, diverting national attention away from chronic economic problems and food shortages. State newspapers have been feeding frenziedly on the images of a naked man alleged to be Ncube, in a bedroom with a woman in her underclothes. On Thursday night the main news bulletin showed several pictures of the same man getting into bed, lying in bed and sitting on the side of his bed with a woman. Newsreaders were warned beforehand that the pictures were suitable only for viewers over the age of 18. Human rights groups Friday rounded on the government and its media. 'All citizens, government critics included, have equal rights before the law, including the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law,' the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) said in a statement. 'It does not augur well for the press and the government in general to be both the judge and the jury.' The Solidarity Peace Trust of South Africa compared the Mugabe governments treatment of the Bulawayo archbishop to the actions of the former apartheid government of South Africa. It said it supported Ncube's principle of speaking the truth to those in power. No manner of intimidation, dirty tricks and divisionary tactics carried out by the state will turn him away from his course, the group said.
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