(MISA/IFEX) – On Thursday 6 July 2000, journalist Pushpa Jamieson was threatened by about five heavily armed Police Mobile Force (PMF) members while covering the aftermath of Malawi’s thirty-sixth independence anniversary at the Civil Service Stadium in Lilongwe. Jamieson had photographed the aftermath of clashes between riot police and hundreds of people who could not […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On Thursday 6 July 2000, journalist Pushpa Jamieson was threatened by about five heavily armed Police Mobile Force (PMF) members while covering the aftermath of Malawi’s thirty-sixth independence anniversary at the Civil Service Stadium in Lilongwe.
Jamieson had photographed the aftermath of clashes between riot police and hundreds of people who could not be accommodated in the stadium, when she was accosted by the PMF members. While turning their guns on her, they confiscated her camera and threatened to shoot her if she resisted. They claimed she was not allowed to take pictures of riots, but Jamieson had only photographed the debris in the main road and not the actual riots.
After the incident, Jamieson returned to the “Chronicle” offices, where she reported the matter to her colleagues. A while later, the same policemen who had confiscated her camera stopped near the paper’s office, prompting newspaper staff to approach them about the camera. One of the officers then used a wooden baton to beat journalist Don Kulapani, while other officers threatened to arrest the other journalists. Kulapani was saved from serious injury by the intervention of other staff. A short while later, about twenty other officers arrived on the scene and threatened to shoot the journalists if they did not leave the place.
“Who do you think you are? We are doing our job. You can go and sue if you want. We are PMF, so watch yourself,” one of the policemen was quoted as saying.
Later that same day, Jamieson’s camera was returned to her, but without the film.
