Minister unpacks Bill on patriotism

Blessings Chidakwa

Herald Reporter

New changes to the criminal code will not infringe the freedom of criticising the Government or President, but rather targets criminals who press for sanctions that result in injury of Zimbabwe, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi has said.

The minister criticised the British House of Lords Parliamentary debate on the Bill last week, saying their views were misplaced and showed how ignorant they were about the legal provision.

Speaking on ZTN Prime in an interview to be aired today after the Second Reading Stage in Senate last Thursday on the debate by British legislators, Minister Ziyambi said their debate was misdirected.

“I want to say that the debate in the British Parliament was totally misplaced. In fact, I am puzzled that they called themselves Lords and Ladies in that House and they debate provisions that are not in the Bill — that if you say something bad about the President, you will be sent to jail. There is no reference to the President in this Bill. I was puzzled when I saw the clip of that debate. How ignorant those individuals in that House can be to the extent of debating and agreeing on something that is not even there when you can actually get this Bill online. 

“Look at it, no reference whatsoever to the President and they say that if you say something about the President you are in trouble. There is no reference to that. I was actually ashamed that they could go that far.”

The Bill has since sailed through Parliament and awaits transmission to the President for his assent before it becomes law.

Minister Ziyambi said there is nothing amiss about the Bill which is common in other jurisdictions including the United States.

He said the motivation behind the Bill was due to individuals going outside the country engaging foreign governments, their proxies or agencies discussing issues of trade boycotts or imposition of sanctions whether intended, targeted or untargeted.

“The contents of the Bill do not target anyone. It targets criminals who undertake a behaviour that results in injury to Zimbabwe. If me and you are seated in a pub and discussing politics and commenting negatively about the President, it’s not criminal, it’s not criminalised in this bill.

“There is no way this law will be used to arrest people who criticise the President. You have to do things that are essential elements in the Bill,” he said.

Minister Ziyambi said from experience those trade boycotts or sanctions, they injure the generality of the people of Zimbabwe.

He said the motivation really was to look at the Constitution and look at crimes against the State and see if this is adequately covered.

“So we went into the code, we looked at the crime of terrorism, treason, the crime of training bandits to come and invade the country and we could not find a specific fit for this kind of behaviour which is criminalised in other jurisdictions.

“Hence, we decided that we needed to amend our criminal code under section 22 and expand it to include this particular section,” said the Justice Minister.

He said the Bill will punish unpatriotic citizens regardless of political affiliation. “If you are Zanu PF, MDC or CCC and go outside the country and engage in behaviour that is criminalised in this Bill, if it is enacted you will be arrested.

“Those that arrest will not ask for your party card. They will say you undertook this, you did this (and it is contrary to section 22 of the Criminal Code and then you have to answer and be arrested if they feel that your conduct satisfies everything that is criminal,” he said.

Minister Ziyambi also disagreed with critics parading that their rights will be curtailed saying they are selfish as they want to do what they want regardless of what will happen to other people’s rights especially those affected with issues like sanctions.

“Our Constitution does not give absolute rights; there are limitations to certain rights. You cannot claim rights that will result in injuring the generality of the population just because you are a Zimbabwean who is claiming the law does not say that,” he said.

The minister said in the Bill, there is no use of the term patriot or patriotic but the contents are those defining what is a crime in terms of the amendment that was put forward.

“Prosecutors must prove that you attended and you knew, if you didn’t know but when you got to the meeting you then became aware, contributed and urged the foreign agent, you will still be guilty of that offence.

“NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) will look at, did you attend the meeting, participate and urge the imposition of sanctions. It is the NPA that has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that you did something,” he said. 

The proposed amendments on Clause 2 (3) read as follows: “Any citizen or permanent resident of Zimbabwe who, within or outside Zimbabwe, intentionally partakes in any meeting, whose object or one of whose objects the accused knows, or has reasonable grounds for believing involves the consideration of or the planning for the implementation or enlargement of sanctions or a trade boycott against Zimbabwe, whether those sanctions or that boycott is untargeted or targets any individual or official, or class of individuals or officials, but whose effects indiscriminately affect the people of Zimbabwe as a whole, or any substantial section thereof, shall be guilty of wilfully damaging the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe . . . ”

The clause provides penalties that include a fine not exceeding level twelve or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or both

Other proposed penalties include termination of the citizenship of the convicted person if that person is a citizen by registration or a dual citizen, prohibition of being a registered voter for a period ranging between five and 15 years and prohibition of standing for a public office for a prescribed period.

Other amendments in the Bill include Clause 5 that seeks to amends section 174(1) of the principal Act after it was felt that the current framing of the offence of criminal abuse of office as provided was very broad in its scope in that it gives room for public officers to be prosecuted for honest mistakes made during the course of their duties.

The proposed amendment will limit the crime to include an essential element of knowledge on the part of a public official that their conduct was illegal.

The Bill also provides for a mandatory minimum sentence in rape and murder cases and expands the definition of “dangerous drugs”.

For the full interview tune on The Chase programme aired on ZTN Prime channel 294, 9pm every Thursday.