(MISA/IFEX) – The Malawi chapter of MISA (MISA-Malawi) has condemned the harassment of journalists covering a soccer match in Blantyre on 7 October 2000. Journalists in Malawi normally gain entry to sport stadiums free of charge, but at a Super League football match on 7 October, a football official allegedly instructed police manning the entry […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The Malawi chapter of MISA (MISA-Malawi) has condemned the harassment of journalists covering a soccer match in Blantyre on 7 October 2000.
Journalists in Malawi normally gain entry to sport stadiums free of charge, but at a Super League football match on 7 October, a football official allegedly instructed police manning the entry gates not to allow journalists in. An argument ensued leading to a scuffle in which one sports journalists was injured.
Follows is the full statement by MISA-Malawi:
MISA-MALAWI STATEMENT ON THE HARASSMENT OF JOURNALISTS DURING THE BATA-TELECOM WONDERERS GAME ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2000
MISA Malawi Chapter has learnt with shock of the brutal harassment of journalists covering the Bata Bullets-Telecom Wonderers encounter at Chichiri Stadium in Blantyre on Saturday, October 7, 2000.
MISA-Malawi’s own investigations found that the police high-handedness was blatantly uncalled for. The journalists were merely doing what they have always been doing. It has been a tradition that journalists are allowed to cover games free of charge.
If the Super League of Malawi had resolved to change its age-old system of allowing journalists to enter the stadium free of charge, they should have duly communicated the development to all newsrooms and journalists associations.
It is the considered belief of MISA-Malawi that if this had been done journalists could not have been surprised when asked to pay.
MISA-Malawi believes there is a symbiotic relationship between journalists and football authorities that should not be put in jeopardy by trigger-happy police officers and over zealous soccer administrators.
The statement by some soccer administrators that newspapers make a lot of money from the games and journalists should therefore be paying to cover the games is most unfortunate.
It is true that newspapers make some money from selling newspapers, after all they are in business. But a proper mechanism should have been put in place if SULAM wanted a levy of that alleged “lots of money”.
MISA-Malawi therefore condemns the police action of brutally manhandling the journalists who were only armed with a pen. MISA-Malawi also calls for a thorough probe by SULAM and the police authorities into what actually happened.
MISA-Malawi, nonetheless, acknowledges the apology by SULAM chairman Hastings Kapenuka and the proposed meeting between sports journalists and SULAM on Monday, October 16, 2000.
It is the hope of MISA-Malawi that SULAM will explain what actually happened to trigger the police brutality and identify its official who ordered the unprecedented police action.
MISA-Malawi also hopes that the police will be represented at the meeting so that next time they should know that their teargas canisters are meant for hoodlums, not hapless journalist whose only crime is to act as the ears and eyes of society.
SIGNED:
RAPHAEL TENTHANI, MISA VICE CHAIRMAN
ARETHA KAMWENDO, MISA PUBLICITY SECRETARY
