The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) has criticised former president Jacob Zuma‘s decision to serve News24 reporter Karyn Maughan and State prosecutor Advocate Billy Downer with criminal summons.
SANEF reacts to Zuma serving Karyn Maughan criminal summons
In a statement quoted by TimesLive, the editor’s forum defended Maughan, who’s due to appear in court alongside Downer for allegedly colluding in what the Jacob Zuma Foundation terms an invasion of the former president’s medical records, claiming that the summons was merely an attempt to silence the investigative journalist.
“As SANEF previously stated in June, when Maughan was cited as a respondent, the information published by Maughan was of public record and not confidential. Sanef is of the view that the pursuing of this matter through private prosecution is not only vindictive but intended to intimidate Maughan and other journalists,” the forum noted.
SANEF further contended that Maughan acted within the boundaries of her journalistic duties when she obtained information on Zuma’s medical condition from papers filed in court, which, technically, “become public record.”
“Zuma’s legal team has since last year claimed Downer leaked this letter to Maughan, an inaccurate assertion. As the media, we are aware that once papers are filed in court, they become public record, hence the latest serving of summons is uncalled for and an unwarranted move,” SANEF added.
Despite the National Prosecting Authority’s decision to not pursue legal action against Maughan and Downer, the Zuma foundation forged ahead with a private prosecution which will seek to assert that the News24 journalist and attorney violated sections of the National Prosecuting Act when details of the former president’s medical records surfaced in an article around the time his parole was in contention.
According to Zuma, Downer, who is the lead advocate in the Arms Deal trial, leaked the documents to Maughan. However, SANEF categorically insists that the journo in question obtained the former president’s medical information from court papers.
“As this is a clear attack on media freedom, Sanef intends to fully support News24 and is considering joining the case as amicus curiae (friend of the court),” SANEF said.
Downer and Maughan are set to appear in court on 10 October 2022.