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ZIMBABWE: Media, opposition complain of harassment
IRIN News
February 18, 2005

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45656

JOHANNESBURG - The arrest of an opposition election official in Zimbabwe earlier this week ran counter to the spirit of the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) principles and guidelines on holding a free and fair poll, local civil society groups told IRIN.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), a coalition of NGOs, said the arrest of Ian Makone, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) election coordinator, defied the SADC principles on democratic elections agreed to in Mauritius last year.

Makone was arrested in the capital, Harare, on Wednesday for organising "an illegal meeting", said police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena. He was charged with violating the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), which effectively bans any assembly without police permission, but was released the same day.

MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi told IRIN that Makone was holding an internal briefing for his party's candidates in a private room at a Harare hotel when he was arrested.

ZESN chairman Reginald Matchaba-Hove said the arrest was "unnecessary" when "Zimbabweans are attempting to create a free atmosphere" ahead of next month's legislative elections.

Media concerns raised
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also expressed concern about the questioning of three international media correspondents by police earlier this week.

The CPJ, quoting the journalists' lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, said the authorities first claimed they were investigating espionage allegations against the journalists; then that they were looking into the reporters' accreditation; and, finally, that they were investigating whether a satellite phone used by one of the journalists was licensed.

The three reporters were Jan Raath and Brian Latham, who both work for a number of British and South African news organisations, and Angus Shaw of the Associated Press (AP).

"CPJ is disturbed at this ominous development and calls on the government to cease its harassment of independent journalists," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper.

The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe announced on Wednesday that all political parties and candidates contesting the elections next month would have equal access to state media. The MDC had earlier complained that it was being denied access to public broadcasters.

Matchaba-Hove welcomed the Broadcasting Authority's announcement but commented, "[This] should have come into effect at least 90 days - i.e. three months - before the elections, but better late than never. We will be monitoring to check if the regulations [regarding access to state media] are being adhered to."

Sanctions renewed
The European Union (EU) has renewed sanctions implemented two years ago against President Robert Mugabe's government, including a travel ban on Mugabe and other leading officials; the freezing of their assets in Europe; and a ban on the sale of military equipment by EU members to Zimbabwe.

However, Geoffrey Van Orden, the British Conservative Party spokesman on human rights in the European parliament said, "with elections in Zimbabwe fast approaching, simply renewing existing EU sanctions will not send a clear message to the regime that it must change for the better or face the consequences."

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