(MISA/IFEX) – On Wednesday 28 November 2001, “The Daily News” reporter Mduduzi Mathuthu was picked up by the police. He was questioned in connection with an August article in which he reported that people walked out on Vice President Msika as he made a speech at a public gathering to commemorate heroes of Zimbabwe’s liberation […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On Wednesday 28 November 2001, “The Daily News” reporter Mduduzi Mathuthu was picked up by the police. He was questioned in connection with an August article in which he reported that people walked out on Vice President Msika as he made a speech at a public gathering to commemorate heroes of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.
According to “The Daily News”, Mathuthu spent the whole afternoon at the police station in the company of his lawyer, Panganayi Hare. He was released the same evening but the police promised to pick him up again for questioning. In August, Mathuthu reported that hundreds of people had walked out on Msika as he delivered his speech in Bulawayo on 11 August, which is heroes’ day and a public holiday.
According to the police, the story was likely to cause fear, alarm and despondency. Hare said that Mathuthu is charged under the Law and Order Maintenance Act. The act stipulates that any person who makes, publishes or reproduces any false statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause alarm and despondency, or disturb public peace, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment not exceeding seven years.
Mathuthu and “The Daily News” photographer Grey Chitiga spent a night in police custody on 18 November on allegations of kidnapping and torture. The charges were later dropped (see IFEX alerts of 21 and 19 November 2001).
Background Information
On Sunday 18 November, Mathuthu and Chitiga were arrested with opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) youths, who are accused of having kidnapped and tortured a Bulawayo resident. The MDC youths had accused the victim of being a state secret agent operative. “The Daily News” staffers were released the following day without being charged. They spent the night of 18 November in different prisons: Mathuthu was detained at Esigodini and Chitiga spent the night at Figtree. Both prisons are about forty kilometres from Bulawayo.
According to the 20 November edition of “The Daily News”, the police tried to persuade Mathuthu and Chitiga to become state witnesses in the alleged case of kidnap and torture by the MDC youths. However, the two are said to have refused.
“The Daily News” operations manager Innocent Kurwa said that the police took their time before releasing the two individuals after being told that they had no case to answer.
