Zimbabwe court: Newspaper should publish
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HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) -- Zimbabwe's High Court reiterated on Wednesday that the largest private daily newspaper should be allowed to resume printing, but it was unclear if police would stand aside, the paper's lawyer said.
Police shut the Daily News four months ago and disregarded a ruling this month to let the newspaper resume operations pending a final determination on its legal status.
"The judge has ordered the execution of his earlier ruling. The police were represented in court today and we hope this time they will act in accordance with the law," Gugulethu Moyo, legal adviser for Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) which publishes the newspaper, told Reuters.
Police were not immediately available for comment.
The Daily News was shut in September after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally without a license in defiance of media laws introduced in 2002.
The Daily News says laws compelling media houses to register with a government-appointed commission are aimed at muzzling critics as Zimbabwe grapples with a political and economic crisis.
The government insists the laws are necessary to restore professionalism in journalism, and says private media has driven a propaganda campaign by government opponents over the seizure of farms from minority whites for redistribution among landless blacks.
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