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British journalists plead not guilty
MISA-Zimbabwe
April 05, 2005

Two British journalists remanded in custody on allegations of breaching the country’s media and immigration laws on 5 April 2005 pleaded not guilty when their trial opened in Norton, about 40km outside the capital Harare.

Toby Harnden, the Sunday Telegraph’s chief foreign correspondent and photographer Julian Simmonds, were arrested on 31 March 2005 in Norton after being accused of covering the parliamentary elections without government accreditation.

If convicted, the two risk a two-year jail term and a fine for working as journalists in Zimbabwe without being accredited by the Media and Information Commission (MIC) in terms of the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

The State is arguing that the pair was in Zimbabwe to ostensibly cover the parliamentary elections which were held on 31 March.

On the immigration charge, their lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, told the court that their passports did not clearly indicate the duration of their visas and both believed they had been granted the full 14 days they had applied for instead of the seven as alleged by the State.

Mtetwa submitted that the journalists contrary to the State’s allegations, were in fact on a tourist excursion, which took them to Victoria Falls, Matobo National Park and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city.

Several foreign journalists have been deported or denied entry into the country under Zimbabwe’s harsh media laws.

The government says more than 200 foreign journalists were accredited to cover the elections, while the applications of several others were turned down.

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