(MISA/IFEX) – An anonymous caller threatened to burn down the independent newspaper “The Post” five days after the independent Radio Phoenix was destroyed by fire. The call was made on 19 September 1997. According to “The Post” finance manager Patrick Musengwa, the caller said this would be done to protest the paper’s negative coverage of […]
(MISA/IFEX) – An anonymous caller threatened to burn down the
independent newspaper “The Post” five days after the independent
Radio Phoenix was destroyed by fire. The call was made on 19
September 1997. According to “The Post” finance manager Patrick
Musengwa, the caller said this would be done to protest the
paper’s negative coverage of the Zambian government and the
ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). Musengwa told the
Zambia Independent Media Association (ZIMA/MISA-Zambia) that the
caller warned “The Post” to draw lessons from the fate of Radio
Phoenix. Musengwa added that he was not surprised, as “The Post”
has always been perceived as an enemy of the government. He said
they have taken the threats “very seriously” and have reported
the incident to police. Police have since said they have started
a criminal investigation into the matter.
On 18 September, equipment worth US$ 350 000 belonging to Radio
Phoenix was destroyed in a mysterious fire which ran through
eight floors of the 22 storey Society House building. The radio
station has since been shut down. A month earlier, another fire
gutted the first floor of the Cabinet office amid political
heckling between the MMD and the opposition United National
Independence Party.
