AmaBhungane invokes ‘Selebi letter’ amid threat of journalists’ arrests

The amaBhungane centre for investigative journalism has issued a “Selebi letter” to the police and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to forestall the arrests of two of its journalists and a managing partner over the publishing of the “Moti Files”.

In a statement amaBhungane said it was made aware businessman Zunaid Moti or the Moti Group planned to lay criminal charges against managing partner Sam Sole and senior journalists Micah Reddy and Dewald van Rensburg.

They had worked on the recently published Moti Files investigation in which Moti and the Moti Group, which is involved in mining, are accused of cosying up to the regime of Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The Selebi letter relates to a directive issued by then police commissioner Jackie Selebi in which police were urged to allow suspects who are co-operating to present themselves to law enforcement authorities. 

In his letter to the police and the NPA, amaBhungane’s attorney Stephen May writes: “[My] clients and I have every reason to believe the recently laid criminal charges, if they exist, are merely an attempt to achieve a de facto ‘gagging order’ by abusing criminal procedure because the jurisdictional facts do not exist to achieve this result legitimately in a civil court.”

May has assured the police and the NPA that amaBhungane and its journalists will fully co-operate with any police investigation, and should the police see fit to bring criminal charges against them, they will appear in court to answer the charges.  

“However, we remain concerned that arrests are imminent, and our attorneys have briefed counsel to be on standby over the coming days,” amaBhungane said. “At this stage, we do not intend to publish Mr May’s letter as our priority was to bring this to the attention of the police and NPA.”

The letter says an attempt may be made to arrest amaBhungane’s managing partner and journalists on suspicion of being in possession of leaked documents from the Moti Group, which Moti has repeatedly characterised as “stolen” but which were “evidence” of Moti’s alleged attempts to capture Zimbabwe’s ruling elite.

The Moti Files were published on April 28. 

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