24 July 1997

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) welcomes the government’s policy of maximum disclosure on arms transfer matters and further welcomes Minister Kader Asmal’s support for the repeal of  the 1968 Armaments Development and Production Act.

The FXI accepts that non-disclosure on arms deals may be necessary in some instances to protect national interests and commercial confidentiality. However, we feel strongly that this should be conducted with the minimum legal protection of disclosure. This means that arms manufacturers such as Denel should have no legislative mechanism to prosecute any person who has penetrated the barrier of secrecy which exists in the armaments industry.

In view of this the FXI calls on the Denel arms manufacturer to immediately withdraw criminal charges against the three newspapers and journalist who published details of the R7-billion arms deal with an undisclosed Middle Eastern country. We further call on Denel to drop plans to seek a court interdict against the newspapers wishing to publish the name of the client. We feel this is an unnecessary step aimed at suppressing information which is already in the public domain and serves to criminalise the actions of investigative journalists. This goes against the freedom of expression clause of the Constitution, which includes the right to freedom of the press and the other media as well as freedom to receive and impart information and ideas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT JANE DUNCAN AT (011) 403-8403/648-5264 OR RAASHIED GALANT AT (011) 403-8403/082-9202264