adminnewspaper, NewsDay.
The lawsuit follows a letter to the editor that was published in the NewsDay’s edition of December 5 last year entitled “Is Newsday MDC-T Mouthpiece.”
Part of the published letter read: “Like Geoff Nyarota, you have ascribed yourselves the role of being brand managers for the MDC-T, as much as he was the Gukurahundi brand manager.”
Nyarota said the statement was malicious and defamatory.
In a letter of demand written to the NewsDay, Nyarota’s lawyers Hove and Associates said his client’s professional reputation was “seriously injured” and his character was damaged.
“It is the considered opinion of our client that the statement contained in the letter is offensive, untruthful, malicious and that his professional reputation was seriously injured while his character was damaged,” read the letter.
“Our client also risks recrimination from the relatives and families of the alleged victims of the alleged atrocities.”
Nyarota said the allegations in the article were untrue and completely unfounded.
Gukurahundi, he said, was an emotional and ethnically divisible issue.
“For NewsDay to now allege that our client was a Gukurahundi brand manager is therefore mischievous, irresponsible and as already stated, malicious and defamatory per se.
“Our client has distinguished himself as an accomplished journalist both locally and internationally for more than 25 years. He has a fine reputation for upholding human rights values and the rule of law.
“He has risked his liberty, health and life in defence of such principles.
“As a result he has received several international awards,” read the letter.
“To therefore suddenly describe him as a ‘brand manager’ for Gukurahundi is to imply that he is a hypocrite . . .
“What aggravates the defamation in this instance is the fact that our client was never accorded an opportunity to comment on this serious allegation against him or to defend himself otherwise, as is required in terms of the ethics of professional journalism.”
Nyarota said subsequent to the December 5 article, he approached NewsDay editor Constantine Chimakure who admitted that the article was indeed defamatory.
“He explained that he had not been on duty on the night when the letter in question was placed in the newspaper.
“Mr Chimakure proposed that our client draft a retraction and apology, which Mr Nyarota promptly did,” read the letter.
“Mr Chimakure acknowledged in writing receipt of the draft and undertook, also in writing, to publish the said retraction and apology in the next issue of NewsDay on Friday, December 7, 2012.
“Despite this solemn undertaking, NewsDay has to date not published any retraction or apology whatsoever.”
“Accordingly, we hereby demand payment of the sum of US$1 000 000 as damages arising from the defamatory article.”
Nyarota is also demanding that the allegation that he was “the brand manager” for Gukurahundi be fully retracted, with the retraction being displayed as prominently as the original offensive article on the letters page of NewsDay.
“The payment should be made within seven days of receipt of this letter of demand into our trust account, the details of which are available upon request and the retraction should also be printed within seven days of receipt of this letter.
“Should you fail to comply fully with the demands stipulated herein, we are under strict instructions to issue a summons commencing action in the High Court of Zimbabwe.
“Should this be necessary we will also claim legal fees from yourselves at an attorney-client scale.”
Online Reporter