(MISA/IFEX) – On 26 April 2000, Zimbabwe police arrested South African journalist Obert Siyabuliza Zilwa on suspicion of being involved in the recent bomb blast at Trustee House, which houses the offices of “The Daily News”. Zilwa, a photographer for the Associated Press (AP), was arrested at Harare International Airport as he was about to […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On 26 April 2000, Zimbabwe police arrested South African journalist Obert Siyabuliza Zilwa on suspicion of being involved in the recent bomb blast at Trustee House, which houses the offices of “The Daily News”.
Zilwa, a photographer for the Associated Press (AP), was arrested at Harare International Airport as he was about to leave the country. He had been in Zimbabwe for three weeks. He is expected to appear in court on 28 April.
A police spokesperson said Zilwa had been arrested because he was suspected of having driven the car that was seen speeding off before the bomb blast. Police claimed he matched eyewitness descriptions of an alleged suspect seen at the scene of the blast. MISA sources reported that Zilwa apparently was at the scene at the time of the blast. He then left to retrieve his equipment at a nearby hotel and returned immediately thereafter.
Meanwhile, AP has sent a letter of protest to Zimbabwe’s ambassador to the United States, Simbi Veke Mubako, demanding Zilwa’s immediate release. “We protest in the strongest terms the detention of our photographer, Obed Zilwa, and we demand his immediate release,” said Terry Leonard, AP’s southern Africa bureau chief. “We are protesting to the Zimbabwe government and we urge other governments and news organizations to call for an end to the intimidation of the foreign press. The Associated Press will provide whatever assistance is needed to help obtain Obed’s speedy release,” Leonard added.
In another reaction to Zilwa’s arrest, the Western Cape branch of the Southern African Freelancers Association strongly protested the arrest of their colleague. The organisation said in a statement that they believed Zilwa, “an experienced and highly respected photojournalist, is innocent and has been detained on a trumped-up charge”.
The statement went on: “We see his arrest as part of a similar concerted attack on press freedom by the Zimbabwean government. It must be viewed in the light of the current siege mentality of the Zimbabwean government, and the explicit attempts by ZANU-PF to target the press as ‘the enemy’. The fact that Zilwa was on the scene of the bomb blast before the Zimbabwean authorities is evidence only of his alertness and professionalism as a journalist”.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– protesting the arrest of journalist Zilwa and calling for his immediate release
– protesting the casting of suspicion on the foreign media simply because they were among the first at the scene of the bomb blast
– pointing out that not only were most of the foreign journalists housed in a hotel situated close to where the blast occurred, but the nature of journalism compels a media worker to be at the scene of a story as soon as possible
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:Hon Cde Robert Mugabe
Executive President
Fax: +263 4 708 557Mr George Charamba
Director of Information in the President’s Office
Fax: +263 4 708 557Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
