Time runs out for church’s libel suit

THE Universal Church of the Kingdom of God’s defamation case against the State-owned company publishing the weekly newspaper The Southern Times will continue in the High Court in Windhoek later this year only.

Acting Judge Annel Silungwe started hearing testimony in the case, in which the church is suing The Southern Times’ owner, Namzim Newspapers, for N$120 000, on Tuesday last week. By Thursday afternoon – having heard three witnesses testify in support of the church’s damages claim against the newspaper publisher, and with the editor of The Southern Times, Moses Magadza, still giving evidence – the case had to be postponed again because it had reached the end of its initially allotted three days of time on the High Court roll.The case was postponed to a date that still has to be arranged.Lawyers Harald Geier, who is representing the church, and Natasha Bassingthwaighte, representing Namzim Newspapers, agreed that the matter would probably be able to return to court only by July at the earliest, as the court roll is already full up to the end of June.The church is suing Namzim Newspapers, a joint venture between the Zimbabwean State-owned Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) and the Namibian State-owned New Era Publications Corporation, over a report published on the front page and third page of The Southern Times on December 4 2005.On the front page, above a large photo of the church’s main building in Windhoek’s Independence Avenue, the main headline on the page read: ‘State bans ‘Satanic’ sect’.On the third page, where another photo of the Windhoek church and a Harare church of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God appeared, the headline was: ‘Zambia bans sect after riots over Satanism claim’.In the story under that headline, it was reported that the Zambian government had suspended the church’s operations in Zambia after a riot in Lusaka caused by rumours that the church actually practised Satanism and human sacrifice, and that two people had been kidnapped by members of the church, supposedly to be sacrificed.Through this report, the church claims in the case against Namzim Newspapers, the newspaper conveyed various defamatory allegations to its readers.These include claims that the church is “a controversial religious sect”, that it “practises Satanism and human sacrifice”, that it “lures its believers by promises of riches”, that it “attributes illnesses to demons”, that it “is an authentic crime organisation whose only goal is to enrich itself”, that it “is engaged in an extreme form of religious merchandising”, and that its collections of funds for the church “are a large scale con-job”, the church is charging in its claim against the company.The newspaper’s report also created the impression that the church had been banned in Namibia as well because it was “a ‘Satanic’ sect”, the church charges.Magadza, who started testifying on Thursday morning, told the court that he used stories on the church that had been written by other news agencies and did some research on the Internet to compile a report for his newspaper, after a journalist who worked for the paper in Lusaka had confirmed to him that Zambia’s Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs had announced a ban on the church’s activities following the riots.He said he did not approach the Universal Church for the Kingdom of God in Windhoek for comment because the story dealt with the church in Zambia, and he did not think the church in Namibia would be able to speak on behalf of the church in Zambia.At some stage of the story that he compiled, mention was made that the Universal Church had spread throughout the southern African region, and it was to illustrate this point that he decided to use the photographs of the church in Windhoek and Harare, Magadza testified.The church’s Bishop in Namibia, Jose Eduardo Mullich, told Acting Judge Silungwe earlier last week that when he contacted Magadza after the story had been published to ask that his church be given an opportunity to state its side of the matter, Magadza told him that the church would then have to place a paid advertisement in the newspaper in which a statement from the church would be published in full.Magadza denied that he had even spoken to Mullich.He said another representative of the church had contacted him, and that this person insisted that a statement from the church had to be published word for word.The only way to accommodate this demand was to let the church place a paid “advertorial” in the paper, he said.Magadza is set to continue giving his evidence in chief when the case returns to court.By Thursday afternoon – having heard three witnesses testify in support of the church’s damages claim against the newspaper publisher, and with the editor of The Southern Times, Moses Magadza, still giving evidence – the case had to be postponed again because it had reached the end of its initially allotted three days of time on the High Court roll.The case was postponed to a date that still has to be arranged.Lawyers Harald Geier, who is representing the church, and Natasha Bassingthwaighte, representing Namzim Newspapers, agreed that the matter would probably be able to return to court only by July at the earliest, as the court roll is already full up to the end of June.The church is suing Namzim Newspapers, a joint venture between the Zimbabwean State-owned Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) and the Namibian State-owned New Era Publications Corporation, over a report published on the front page and third page of The Southern Times on December 4 2005.On the front page, above a large photo of the church’s main building in Windhoek’s Independence Avenue, the main headline on the page read: ‘State bans ‘Satanic’ sect’.On the third page, where another photo of the Windhoek church and a Harare church of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God appeared, the headline was: ‘Zambia bans sect after riots over Satanism claim’.In the story under that headline, it was reported that the Zambian government had suspended the church’s operations in Zambia after a riot in Lusaka caused by rumours that the church actually practised Satanism and human sacrifice, and that two people had been kidnapped by members of the church, supposedly to be sacrificed.Through this report, the church claims in the case against Namzim Newspapers, the newspaper conveyed various defamatory allegations to its readers.These include claims that the church is “a controversial religious sect”, that it “practises Satanism and human sacrifice”, that it “lures its believers by promises of riches”, that it “attributes illnesses to demons”, that it “is an authentic crime organisation whose only goal is to enrich itself”, that it “is engaged in an extreme form of religious merchandising”, and that its collections of funds for the church “are a large scale con-job”, the church is charging in its claim against the company.The newspaper’s report also created the impression that the church had been banned in Namibia as well because it was “a ‘Satanic’ sect”, the church charges.Magadza, who started testifying on Thursday morning, told the court that he used stories on the church that had been written by other news agencies and did some research on the Internet to compile a report for his newspaper, after a journalist who worked for the paper in Lusaka had confirmed to him that Zambia’s Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs had announced a ban on the church’s activities following the riots.He said he did not approach the Universal Church for the Kingdom of God in Windhoek for comment because the story dealt with the church in Zambia, and he did not think the church in Namibia would be able to speak on behalf of the church in Zambia.At some stage of the story that he compiled, mention was made that the Universal Church had spread throughout the southern African region, and it was to illustrate this point that he decided to use the photographs of the church in Windhoek and Harare, Magadza testified.The church’s Bishop in Namibia, Jose Eduardo Mullich, told Acting Judge Silungwe earlier last week that when he contacted Magadza after the stor
y had been published to ask that his church be given an opportunity to state its side of the matter, Magadza told him that the church would then have to place a paid advertisement in the newspaper in which a statement from the church would be published in full.Magadza denied that he had even spoken to Mullich.He said another representative of the church had contacted him, and that this person insisted that a statement from the church had to be published word for word.The only way to accommodate this demand was to let the church place a paid “advertorial” in the paper, he said.Magadza is set to continue giving his evidence in chief when the case returns to court.