|
Back to Index
Photojournalist
Assaulted
Media Institute
of Southern Africa - Zimbabwe Chapter (MISA-Zimbabwe)
November 20, 2003
Shadreck Pongo,
a photojournalist with the Standard newspaper was severely assaulted
and injured by the police on 18 November in Harare while covering
a nationwide demonstration organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU).
Riot police
apprehended him while he was shooting photographs of demonstrators
and pulled him into a police truck where they severely assaulted
him with baton sticks all over the body.
The police seized
the camera and destroyed it before dumping Pongo on the periphery
of the city centre.
Pongo was rushed
to the Avenues Hospital in Harare hospital where his condition was
described as bad.
Contacted for
comment police Spokesperson Assistant Police Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena said that it is difficult for the police to distinguish
between journalists and demonstrators adding that media workers
tend to make themselves part of the demonstrations. When told that
some of the journalists and media workers display their accreditation
cards but still get beaten and/or arrested he said that the media
workers must distinctly separate themselves from demonstrators.
He said that the police would want to know clearly that journalists
are merely observing.
Also arrested
is Andrew Moyse the director of Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe
who was arrested together with seven other civic leaders involved
in the demonstration.
They are still
detained at the Harare Central Police Station and have not appeared
in court. The ZCTU was protesting to pressure government to reduce
taxation ahead of the national budget in November.
MISA- Zimbabwe
notes with concern that despite the accreditation by a government
appointed Commission journalists and photographers are still being
beaten and denied access to areas where they need to cover events.
The police have so far refused to identify the accreditation cards
and have mostly targeted journalists from the private media.
Visit the MISA-Zimbabwe
fact sheet
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
