Zimbabwe

(MISA/IFEX) – Moses Oguti, the editor-in-chief of the Botswana magazine “Trans -Kalahari”, is still in prison one month after he was arrested in Mutare for entering Zimbabwe illegally through the Forbes Border Post. Oguti is being held in a Harare prison. MISA’s Zimbabwe chapter (MISA-Zimbabwe) learned in a telephone interview with the Zimbabwe Prison Service […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI protest letter to the government of Zimbabwe: His Excellency President Robert Mugabe Office of the President Causeway, Harare Zimbabwe Fax: +263 4 728 799 / 708 820 / 734 644 Vienna, 3 April 2002 Your Excellency, The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, leading journalists […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On Tuesday 2 April 2002, Peta Thornycroft, the Zimbabwe correspondent for the British “Daily Telegraph”, was questioned on the status of her citizenship in the continuing saga following her arrest on Wednesday 27 March. Thornycroft was asked by police to report to the magistrate’s court in the eastern border town of Mutare on […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 1 April 2002 CPJ press release: ZIMBABWE: Reporter released without charge after 72 hours in detention New York, April 1, 2002-CPJ welcomes the release yesterday of Zimbabwean journalist Peta Thornycroft after more than 72 hours in custody on suspicion of violating Zimbabwe’s harsh press laws. Local sources told CPJ […]

(MISA/IFEX) – “The Daily News” editor-in-chief Geoff Nyarota is likely to face legal action this week if Jonathan Moyo, the minister of state for information and publicity, goes ahead with his threat against him over a “false” story he allegedly published. This will be the first time the government will have implemented the controversial Access […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The Book Café, which was founded in 1995 with the purpose of promoting cultural activities and artists through discussions and workshops, has been banned by the police from holding any political discussion unless they seek clearance under the repressive Public Order and Security Act (POSA). “We have been holding these political discussions every […]

(IPI/IFEX) – The following is an IPI protest letter to the government of Zimbabwe: His Excellency President Robert Mugabe Office of the President Causeway, Harare Zimbabwe Fax: +263 4 728 799 / 708 820 / 734 644 Vienna, 28 March 2002 Your Excellency, The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, leading journalists […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 20 March 2002, two vendors for “The Daily News” were assaulted and their newspapers were destroyed in the town of Rusape. On 23 March, the newspaper reported that the attacks were carried out by fifteen ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party youths and war veterans in the town, 170 […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Poet Sikumbuzo Dube faces a one-year prison sentence and a Z$20,000 (approx. US$370, £250) fine for writing and reciting a poem ridiculing President Robert Mugabe. Ridiculing the president is a crime under the Public Order and Security Act. Dube, twenty-five years old, is one of thousands of illegal Zimbabwean migrants who have been […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Zimbabwe’s Minister of Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo has said that the newly enacted Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act needs to be revisited so that foreign ownership of the media is totally banned in Zimbabwe. Moyo was addressing army officers at the Zimbabwe Military Staff College in the capital Harare […]

(MISA/IFEX) – More than 100 copies of “The Daily News” were torn up and the newspaper’s vendors were harassed in an attack by ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party youth. The incident occurred in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, on 13 March 2002. “The Daily News” is an independent daily newspaper in […]

(MISA/IFEX) – President Robert Mugabe signed Zimbabwe’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act into law on Friday 15 March 2002, effectively making it an active law. The act, which has been criticised by local journalists’ organisations and the international community, seeks among other things to establish a Media Commission that would register media […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 15 March 2002 IFJ media release: “Malicious Mugabe” Sparks New Protest by World Journalists Journalists around the world and Southern Africa expressed defiance today over the new attacks on the independent media launched by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. In the first major executive decision since disputed presidential elections last […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Zimbabwean Minister of State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo has warned that the BBC could be permanently banned from reporting from Zimbabwe. Addressing local and foreign journalists in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, on 8 March 2002, Moyo said he had information that some BBC reporters had entered the country. “There is […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Moses Oguti, the detained editor-in-chief of Botswana-based magazine “Trans Kalahari”, has been transferred to Harare Central Prison, in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Oguti is accused of entering Zimbabwe illegally and misrepresenting information to the police. According to a report in the 11 March 2002 edition of “The Daily News”, Oguti was transferred to […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Three journalists from the Voice of the People radio station were denied accreditation to cover the 9 and 10 March 2002 presidential elections. The three journalists are Ish Mafundikwa, Jestina Mukoko and Shorai Makoni. MISA-Zimbabwe was told by Mafundikwa that when they went to the Election Supervisory Commission (ESC) seeking accreditation on 2 […]