(MISA/IFEX) – On the evening of Saturday 8 September 2001, two Bulawayo-based journalists were arrested and detained for an hour for allegedly trespassing into a police station. The two journalists, Mduduzi Mathuthu of “The Daily News” and Loughty Dube of the “Zimbabwe Independent”, had their press cards confiscated. The police were also eager to question […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On the evening of Saturday 8 September 2001, two Bulawayo-based journalists were arrested and detained for an hour for allegedly trespassing into a police station.
The two journalists, Mduduzi Mathuthu of “The Daily News” and Loughty Dube of the “Zimbabwe Independent”, had their press cards confiscated. The police were also eager to question Njabulo Ncube of the “Financial Gazette”, who managed to elude them.
The police released the two journalists, saying they would proceed by way of summons. The journalists went to the Bulawayo Central police station to enquire about the arrest of three bodyguards of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Member of Parliament (MP) David Coltart, the MP for Bulawayo South and shadow minister for justice and constitutional affairs. The bodyguards were arrested for alleged possession of a two-way radio without a licence.
The journalists said they arrived at the police station shortly before 8:00 p.m. (local time), after receiving information that Coltart had also been arrested. They asked to see Chief Inspector Matira, the officer-in-charge of the Police Law and Order section. “When we got to the station, we were met by Matira, who said we were trespassing, because his office was private property. He then told us we were under arrest. It was clearly a flimsy and cooked up charge to harass and intimidate us,” said Mathuthu.
Dube said the confiscation of their press cards was an attempt to curtail the journalists’ activities, particularly the coverage of the mayoral election. Matira refused to comment on the journalists’ detention.
Coltart’s men were arrested at the MDC provincial offices at around 4:00 p.m. The police also towed away a truck which they said was used in a violent incident in the suburb of Richmond. They seized a video camera used by the bodyguards, as well as Coltart’s cellphone. The bodyguards are still in police custody and are only expected to be released on 11 September for a court appearance. They will be charged under the Law and Order Maintenance Act.
MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe said his party suspected the arrests were linked to an earlier incident on Saturday 8 September, when the men filmed buses which brought in suspected Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) supporters to vote in the Bulawayo mayoral election.
“This is sheer harassment and we cannot divorce the arrest from the earlier incident, when the police tried to prevent us from filming an electoral fraud. It is a pity they took no action in seeking to arrest those ZANU-PF youths clearly coming to vote in this election,” Jongwe said.
