The editor of Zimbabwe's only independent newspaper accepted a press freedom award in Washington today and vowed to return to Africa to face trial on charges he said were aimed at silencing the paper.
"I'm very confident, Geoffrey Nyarota," editor of
The Daily News
of Harare, said. "There's no case whatsoever, the government is out to get
The Daily News
, out to get me personally, so they will try everything possible."
Mr Nyarota received an award from the Committee to Protect Journalists for his dedication to protecting freedom of the press in Zimbabwe.
Mr Nyarota was arrested this month on fraud charges and for allegedly violating investment laws in running the newspaper. The arrest, his second this year, followed a series of bomb attacks on The Daily News. His trial begins in two weeks.
The charges, which Mr Nyarota denies, follow repeated attempts by the government to shut down the paper.
The Daily Newsbroke the so-called Willowgate scandal, a state-sponsored auto industry scam, just months after President Robert Mugabe challenged his detractors to present evidence of corruption within his administration.
Since its creation, The Daily Newshas irked the government by offering a platform for opposition parties, Mr Nyarota said.
Before the arrival of The Daily News, the government enjoyed total control over the media, he said. The output of different media was predictable, they were solidly behind the government.
"The public lost out because there was gross misrepresentation of the facts, the issues," he said. There was a genuine attempt by the government to control public thinking.
Mr Nyarota said that despite a September agreement with Britain that mandated the government of Zimbabwe to ensure freedom of the press among other liberties in return for funding from Western economies, repression remained strong.
"The government so far has not kept its side of the bargain," he said. "Journalists continue to be harassed, I don't think the government takes the agreement seriously."