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Foreign journalists chased out
MISA-Zimbabwe
April 30, 2004

The Department of Information on 29 April, asked a Sky News television crew from Britain to leave the country, saying it had entered the country illegally without observing accreditation laws. The number of the crew could not be determined at the time of writing this alert.

In a statement, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, said the Sky television news crew had "arrogantly" flown into the country without government authority or clearance from Zimbabwe's mission in London.

"What makes the conduct of this crew appear deliberately contemptuous and thus reprehensible is the fact that before leaving Britain, the crew actually received a clear response from the department (of information) outlining the government position and expectation before its proposed visit," he said. "Accordingly the department requires that forthwith, the Sky News crew complies with our national laws ... including the requirement that foreign media applicants secure permission to fly into the country for purposes of accreditation from their country of origin and work." "Failure to comply would, naturally, trigger a decisive response from agencies whose duty it is to uphold the rule of law in the country," he added.

In London, Sky said it had not tried to enter the country clandestinely and believed it had clearance to send a two-man crew from Johannesburg to film matters related to cricket. "We are not sure that we are being thrown out. We are just waiting to hear from the government to clarify what their attitude is. We are a bit surprised," Adrian Wells, Sky's head of foreign news, told Reuters in London.

This is the second time in a month that foreign journalists have been thrown out. On 21 April Zimbabwe Immigration officers deported Mihir Bose, a British journalist with The Daily Telegraph on visiting the country for purposes of work without accreditation.

Under section 79 of AIPPA only accredited journalists can work in Zimbabwe. Section 79 reads that:

(1) No journalist shall exercise the rights provided in section seventy-eight in Zimbabwe without being accredited by the Commission.

(2) Subject to subsection (4), no journalist shall be accredited who is not a citizen of Zimbabwe, or is not regarded as permanently resident in Zimbabwe by virtue of the Immigration Act [Chapter 4:02].

(3) Any person who wishes to be accredited as a journalist shall make an application to the Commission in the form and manner and accompanied by the fee, if any, prescribed:

Provided that a mass media service or news agency may file an application for accreditation on behalf of journalists employed by such mass media service or news agency.

(4) A journalist who is not a citizen of Zimbabwe, or is not regarded as permanently resident in Zimbabwe by virtue of the Immigration Act [Chapter 4:02], may be accredited for a limited period not exceeding 30 days by the Media and Information Commission.

Under AIPPA foreign journalists are required to apply for accreditation through Zimbabwe diplomatic missions in their countries and can only visit once the application has been approved.

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