Zimbabwe

(MISA/IFEX) – A Zimbabwean musician, Clive Malunga, slapped and verbally abused journalist Shepherd Mutamba on Monday 22 October 2001, at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) offices in Harare. Mutamba is the editor-in-chief of ZBC’s news department. Malunga is reported to have barged into the newsroom while Mutamba was addressing reporters in the morning and slapped […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Zimbabwean Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Rugare Gumbo has threatened to sue “The Standard”, a weekly newspaper, for over Z$2 million (US$36,000). The threat comes in the wake a story that linked Gumbo to the death of Herbert Chitepo, a veteran nationalist and liberation war hero who was mysteriously killed during Zimbabwe’s liberation […]

(IPI/IFEX) – In a 24 September 2001 letter to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, IPI expressed its deep concern over the vicious attacks on four staff members from the independent “Daily News”. According to information provided to IPI, on 17 September, journalists Mduduu Muthutuu and Collin Chiwanza, photojournalist Urgurnia Mauluka and their driver were assaulted by […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On 3 September 2001, well-known Zimbabwean musician Andy Brown confiscated “Daily News” reporter Aaron Ufumeli’s film during a function. Ufumeli had tried to take photos of the musician, according to a report in the 6 September edition of “The Daily News”. According to the report, on 3 September, at the instigation of a […]

(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, RSF expressed its concern over the assault on three journalists from the independent daily “The Daily News”. RSF asked the chief of police to do everything in his power to ensure that journalists can work safely throughout the country. “You have a responsibility to protect […]

(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 27 August 2001, armed war veterans and supporters of the ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Unity Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), attacked “Daily News” reporter Mduduzi Mathuthu. Mathuthu, who is based in Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo, was beaten while covering a farmland dispute meeting between war veterans, ZANU-PF supporters and farm owner Peter […]

(MISA/IFEX) – The government of Zimbabwe has evoked the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to amend the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) Act and the Broadcasting Services Act 2001 to form a new company that will provide transmission services to broadcasters. The amendment will also make ZBC a duly licensed broadcasting entity under the Broadcasting Services […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Zimbabwe’s Vice President Simon Muzenda said that the government would not hesitate to arrest journalists who wrote inaccurate stories about the country “to please Western detractors,” the 24 August 2001 edition of “The Herald” reported. Muzenda was speaking at a Zimbabwe Republic Police parade at the police training school in Harare, the capital, […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On Monday 20 August 2001, news editor of “The Zimbabwe Mirror” Wallace Chuma and reporter Constantine Chimakure were arrested and questioned by the Law and Order Section of the police about stories that appeared in the 17 August edition of “The Zimbabwe Mirror”. The story in question relates to the looting of about […]

(MISA/IFEX) – On Wednesday 22 August 2001, the Zimbabwean police arrested Mark Chavunduka, editor of “The Standard”, over the publication of a story in the Sunday 19 August edition of his newspaper claiming that President Mugabe was being haunted by the ghost of the late commander of the Zanla forces, Josiah Tongogara. On 22 August, […]

In a letter to Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo, RSF protested the arrest of Wallace Chuma, news editor of the independent weekly “Zimbabwe Mirror”. RSF asked the minister to order the competent authorities to release the journalist immediately. “The press freedom situation is deplorable. Zimbabwe is no longer a country with the rule of law,” […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 21 August 2001 CPJ press release: Zimbabwe journalist on alleged government death list summoned by police New York, August 21, 2001 — Two days after a Harare newspaper reported that prominent local journalist Basildon Peta topped an alleged government “hit list,” police summoned the journalist for questioning. Peta is […]

(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is deeply disturbed by the spiralling deterioration of freedom of expression in Zimbabwe. The most recent manifestation of the onslaught on the independent media in the country is the detention of six “Daily News” journalists in two separate incidents. Geoffrey Nyarota, the newspaper’s editor, was arrested at just […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 16 August 2001 CPJ press release: IN ZIMBABWE, MUGABE GOVERNMENT GROWS MORE HOSTILE TO INDEPENDENT PRESS AS ELECTION NEARS New York, August 16, 2001 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today sent a letter to Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe chronicling a host of press freedom violations. The letter called […]

(MISA/IFEX) – Fresh charges have been laid against four “Daily News” journalists, Geoff Nyarota, Bill Saidi, Sam Munyavi and John Gambanga. According to Lawrence Chibwe, the journalists’ lawyer, the four are now being charged with contravening Section 44 (2) (b) of the Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA), as read with Section 44 (1). The […]