Tuko editor Didacus Malowa will be serving a five day jail sentence after he failed to comply with the courts order of offering an apology on misreporting.
Magistrate Eunice Nyutu had ordered that the editor apologize after publishing a story online concerning the National Youth Service (NYS) graft scandal.
The magistrate accused the editor of not complying with orders issued to Tuko to apologize and retract the story.
I request the court to suspend it’s orders. We have a new review application touching on the same matter
TUKO lawyer
The editor was however defended by their lawyer saying that the court should suspend the orders due to the fact that the case was already at the High Courts for review of the initial order of fining the editor Sh.50,000.
“I request the court to suspend it’s orders. We have a new review application touching on the same matter.” said the lawyer.
Editorial Powers
He also argued that the move to give an apology was out of the power of the editor and that it lied wholly on the companies management.
The publisher through their lawyer asked the court to pardon Malowa and explained that he was more than traumatized by the issue at hand.
The editor apologized to the court and assured it that they had already pulled down the supposed article.
Magistrate Ngutu said that the ruling was set to act as a serious warning to other journalists for misreporting of information.