A journalist with the Times of Swaziland, the kingdom’s only independent daily newspaper, was forced to hand over photographs he had taken at the scene of an alleged attempted murder to the High Court - if he failed to turn up he was warned he could get three months jail time with hard labour.
Musa Nhleko went to the court and handed over his photographs. He was later ordered back to the court where further evidence was collected from him.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has condemned the court’s action calling it ‘harassment’.
MISA says when journalists write stories, they write not to be accountable to the courts, but as a professional obligation and in the public interest.
Any material the journalist uses as a source of information cannot be collected from them by force.
‘The action by the court will pose threats to the operation of journalists and freedom of expression in case a trend emerges where journalists would be compelled to reveal the proofs and sources of their stories,’ MISA says.
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