(MISA/IFEX) – On Friday 30 November 2001, Cyrus Nhara, a photojournalist with Artvak Productions, was attacked by a mob demonstrating in support of land reform. The incident occurred outside the Munhumutapa Building, which houses the president’s offices. The same mob also attacked the offices of “The Daily News”, breaking windows and destroying hundreds of copies […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On Friday 30 November 2001, Cyrus Nhara, a photojournalist with Artvak Productions, was attacked by a mob demonstrating in support of land reform. The incident occurred outside the Munhumutapa Building, which houses the president’s offices. The same mob also attacked the offices of “The Daily News”, breaking windows and destroying hundreds of copies of “The Daily News”, “The Financial Gazette” and “The Zimbabwe Independent”.
Nhara was manhandled and beaten with clenched fists, bottles and sticks. He sustained bruises on his face. He escaped by jumping into a moving car, which took him to the offices of MISA-Zimbabwe, where he sought refuge. “I was attacked for filming the demonstrators and told that only the ZBC [Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation] can film them,” said Nhara. His film footage was confiscated by the mob. He also lost his shoes and spectacles.
The mob later went on to smash “The Daily News” office windows, where Tsvangirai Mukwazhi, a photojournalist with the newspaper, was taking photographs. Steel balls propelled by catapults were used to smash the newspaper’s office windows. The demonstrators tore hundreds of copies of independent newspapers.
The demonstrators, who were visibly drunk, were led by Winston Dzawo, ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party (ZANU-PF) Central Committee member and former deputy mayor of Harare. ZANU-PF Member of Parliament Saviour Kasukuwere was seen at the Harare Polytechnic giving money to students, who constituted the majority of the demonstrators, “The Daily News” reported.
