The Standard newspaper says it stands by its story published on Sunday that police opened fire using live ammunition to quell National Electoral Reform Agenda-organised protests in Harare last Saturday.
by Staff Reporter
Police have refuted the story and accused The Standard of unprofessionalism and “openly” pursuing a political agenda, among other journalistic felonies.
“We wish to assure our readers and stakeholders that we verified the facts contained in our story and that our reporters were there on the ground collecting and recording information,” The Standard acting editor Tangai Chipangura said yesterday.
“As such, we stand by our story — that the police opened fired into the air to disperse protesters.”
Chipangura said The Standard was an independent, ethical and credible newspaper, which is non-political and, therefore, does not hold a brief for any political organisation as suggested by the police.
“Claims by the police that we had ‘openly turned political and (thrown) all ethical tenets of journalism through the window in order to achieve one’s political agenda’ are themselves malicious and meant to discredit the newspaper without investigating the reports and, therefore, without facts,” he said.
“The Standard does not publish stories based on hearsay or speculation and we wish to restate that, indeed, the police did engage in running battles with protesters, which resulted in several arrests and the opening of gunfire.”
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Chipangura said The Standard contacted the police to verify the story before publication and the police responses were published in the story.
“We value the Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe chapter-co-ordinated meeting between the police and the media last week and stand by the position agreed — responsible reportage and a stop to media harassment by the police,” he said.
“We are, therefore, concerned by the unsubstantiated and damaging claims by the police accusing The Standard of ‘peddling falsehoods’ and harbouring certain political agendas.”
