Nqobani Ndlovu was arrested in connection with a story alleging that police promotional examinations had been cancelled.
(MISA/IFEX) – On 17 November 2010, Nqobani Ndlovu, a reporter with the weekly newspaper “The Standard”, who is based in Bulawayo, was arrested in connection with a story alleging that police promotional examinations had been cancelled.
According to Dumisani Sibanda, the Bulawayo bureau chief for the daily “Newsday”, Ndlovu, who is being held at the Bulawayo Central Police Station, is likely to be charged with criminal defamation under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. Sibanda said the police were now also reportedly looking for the editor of “The Standard”, Nevanji Madanhire.
Ndlovu is the author of a story carried by “The Standard” on 14 November, in which it was alleged that the police examinations were being scrapped to facilitate the absorption of war veterans and retired police officers into the police force ahead of elections in 2011. Alpha Media Holdings is the publisher of “The Standard”, “Newsday” and the “Zimbabwe Independent”.
BACKGROUND:
On 16 November, the police briefly detained and questioned Sibanda at the Bulawayo Central Police Station in connection with the same story.
Sibanda told MISA-Zimbabwe that police from the Criminal Investigations Department’s Law and Order Section picked him from the “Newsday” offices in Bulawayo. He said the police wanted him to disclose the whereabouts of Ndlovu as a precondition for his release. He was released later the same day after telling them that Nqobani was out of town.
