Johannesburg - The Human Rights Commission (HRC) yesterday withdrew subpoenas summoning more than a score of editors to its hearings on racism in the media under threat of imprisonment for six months if they chose to ignore them, reports Patrick Laurence.
But the chairman of the HRC, Mr Barney Pityana, warned that the withdrawal was not unconditional and that the HRC reserved the right to reissue subpoenas against any editor who failed to attend the hearings, due to start tomorrow, of their own volition. The decision came after representations from the South African National Editors' Forum and four major newspapers, including Independent Newspapers SA, owned by Dr Tony O'Reilly.
