(MISA/IFEX) – “Zimbabwe Independent” editor Iden Wetherell was arrested on Wednesday 17 April 2002 at around 2:00 p.m. (local time). His arrest, the third arrest of independent journalists in three days, marks the first serious clampdown on the independent media by the government of Zimbabwe since the enactment of the draconian Access to Information and […]
(MISA/IFEX) – “Zimbabwe Independent” editor Iden Wetherell was arrested on Wednesday 17 April 2002 at around 2:00 p.m. (local time). His arrest, the third arrest of independent journalists in three days, marks the first serious clampdown on the independent media by the government of Zimbabwe since the enactment of the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Vincent Kahiya, news editor of the weekly business newspaper, told MISA’s Zimbabwe chapter (MISA-Zimbabwe) that the police called Wetherell at around 2:00 p.m. and instructed him to report to the central police station in the capital, Harare. Innocent Chagonda of the Atherstone and Cook law firm is representing Wetherell.
According to Kahiya, Wetherell was arrested on allegations of having published a false story that First Lady Grace Mugabe was embroidered in a labour dispute in a company where her brother is an employee. The Department of Information and Publicity, headed by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, dismissed the story as untrue. Dumisani Muleya, the story’s author, was arrested on charges of criminal defamation and contravention of Section 80, Subsection 1 (b) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (see IFEX alerts of 17, 16 and 15 April 2002). Chagonda informed MISA-Zimbabwe that the same charges would be preferred on Wetherell.
At the time this alert was written, Wetherell was still at the police station where police had just finished recording a “warned and cautioned” statement from him. At 4:30 p.m., Chagonda told MISA-Zimbabwe that the police were fingerprinting Wetherell. “They are likely to release him today,” said Chagonda.
Background Information
Muleya, chief reporter of the “Zimbabwe Independent”, was arrested at 3:00 p.m. on 15 April by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for having allegedly tarnished the image of the First Lady.
In a 12 April “Zimbabwe Independent” story, Muleya wrote that the First Lady’s brother was involved in a labour dispute in which he solicited the help of his sister. Muleya was released from police custody at 6:30 p.m. on 15 April but was told to return the following day for fingerprinting. On 16 April, he was additionally charged with contravening Section 80, Subsection 1 (b) of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act for allegedly “writing falsehoods” about the First Lady.
