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British journalists arrested
MISA-Zimbabwe
March 31, 2005

Two British journalists, working for The Telegraph, were arrested in the town of Norton on 31 March, the day Zimbabweans were voting for Members of Parliament. Norton is small town 40 kilometres out of the capital Harare

The lawyer representing the two, Beatrice Mtetwa told MISA-Zimbabwe on March 31 that the journalists were arrested late afternoon on 31 March. Mrs Mtetwa could not give further details as she was still at the Norton police station and negotiating with police for the release of the journalists. Mrs Mtetwa told MISA-Zimbabwe that the journalists were arrested on allegations of practising journalism without accreditation. It is a crime under Zimbabwe's law, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) for local, (Zimbabwean) and foreign journalists to work without accreditation. Mrs Mtetwa told MISA-Zimbabwe that despite efforts to have the journalists released into the hands of their lawyers, the police insisted that the journalists spend the night in police custody.

Meanwhile CBC and ITV journalists in Zimbabwe to cover the elections were harassed by security agents in Bindura on 29 March while covering President Robert Mugabe's rally. Security agents demanded that the journalists produce two accreditation cards one from the Zimbabwe Election Commission and also another from the Media and Information Commission. The journalists only had the ZEC accreditation cards. Intervention by some government officials who explained that the ZEC accreditation was enough for journalists to work saved the journalists from further harassment. The role of MIC in the election process has not been clear with the Department of Information, MIC and ZEC all claiming that they are accrediting journalists. Apart from these incidences MISA-Zimbabwe is yet to receive reports of any other serious media or freedom of expression violations on Election Day. Updates on the two arrested journalists will be made as soon as the information is available.

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