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State harrassment of media workers
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
September 13, 2001

MMPZ notes with concern the continued state harassment of media workers in recent weeks, especially those from the privately owned Press and the international media.

During the mayoral election in Bulawayo, two journalists from the private press were reported by The Daily News (10/9) to have been arrested for allegedly trespassing in a police station when they went to inquire about the arrest of three MDC bodyguards. They were later released.

The Zimbabwe Independent (7/9) also reported the harassment of one of its reporters by senior police officers in the Law and Order section of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) during that week. The police repeatedly ordered the journalist to report to the police, allegedly "to discuss" a story he had written the previous week about displaced farm workers. No charges were preferred. In addition, the Department of Information and Publicity refused to accredit the Zimbabwean correspondents for The Times of London, The Daily Telegraph and the American radio station, Voice of America, for the SADC leaders' meeting on the crisis in Zimbabwe on Monday and Tuesday.

These latest attempts by the state to harass journalists and prevent them from doing their work represents an ongoing campaign by government to intimidate journalists and stifle the free flow of information about events in Zimbabwe by controlling access to important information. Such intolerance erodes the public's rights to freedom of expression and information as enshrined in the constitution.

Journalists should be allowed to operate without interference from state agencies so they can fulfill their mandate to inform the public of important issues of national interest. Suppression of the work of media workers through harassment and/or censorship severely undermines the practice of democracy and must be condemned.

For More Information Please Contact
Project Coordinator, Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel/Fax: +263-4-703702
Visit the MMPZ fact sheet

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