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Police recommence onslaught against journalists
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)
August 15, 2013

Zimbabwean police have resumed their onslaught against journalists by devoting two days to interrogate Jan Raath, a veteran foreign correspondent for The Times, a British newspaper over the publication of a story alleging that the government had stitched up a secret deal to export uranium raw materials to Iran for the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

Four officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) on Wednesday 14 August 2013 pitched up at Raath’s residence in Harare’s Meyrick Park suburb at around 17:00 hours, where they took him to Harare Central Police Station for interrogation over his contribution to the alleged uranium deal story, which he allegedly co-authored with other journalists Jerome Starkey, Michael Evans and Hugh Tomlinson and was published in the British newspaper on Saturday 10 August 2013.

Detective Chief Inspector Run’anga led the interrogation in which the police expressed concern over what they claimed to be “publication or communication of false statements prejudicial to the State.”

The questioning by the police lasted two hours before Raath, who was accompanied to the police station by his lawyer Harrison Nkomo, of Mtetwa&Nyambirai Legal Practitioners and a member lawyer of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights was released.

On Thursday 15 August 2013, the veteran journalist returned to Harare Central Police Station’s Law and Order Section, where he appended his signature to an affidavit detailing his contribution to the newspaper article after interrogations which lasted for an hour.

The police advised Raath to “go and relax at home and continue with his duties” after the grilling sessions.

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