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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Marange, Chiadzwa and other diamond fields and the Kimberley Process - Index of articles
Zim
police arrest e.tv staffer in diamond district
Mail
& Guardian (SA)
February 09, 2007
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=298567&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/
A journalist working for South African free-to-air television station
e.tv and at least one assistant were arrested in eastern Zimbabwe
this week while trying to report on illegal dealings in the diamond-rich
Marange district, the station told the Mail & Guardian Online
on Friday.
Peter Moyo, a Zimbabwean national working as a producer for e.tv's
investigative 3rd Degree programme, was arrested on Tuesday, said
Sam Rogers, the show's executive producer.
Also detained was cameraman William Gumbo, who was hired from the
Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation to work with Moyo. Zimbabwe's
state-controlled Herald newspaper reported that another Zimbabwean,
named only as Trymore, was also arrested, but Rogers could not confirm
this.
Moyo was out on bail and on his way back to South Africa on Friday,
said Rogers, who added she did not know when the men would appear
in court again in Zimbabwe.
According to the Herald's report, the three were arrested by police
in Mutare and were found in possession of tapes that showed they had
been filming in the Marange and Bikita districts. Police in the area
have been trying to clamp down on illegal diamond mining and dealing.
The three will face charges of working without accreditation, said
the Herald. All journalists who work in Zimbabwe require permission
from the state-appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC).
However, Rogers said the Zimbabwean districts are a "real hot
spot" for illegal diamond dealings, often involving foreigners,
and Moyo may have been mistaken by police for one of these foreigners.
Police seized the reporters' cameras, videotapes and what was described
as a "spy video camera disguised as an ordinary satchel",
said the Herald. Rogers confirmed that the equipment belonged to e.tv
and that the station's lawyers were working on having it returned
to South Africa.
Dozens of journalists, including several foreign reporters, have been
arrested under Zimbabwe's strict press laws since they came into effect
in 2002. Working without accreditation can result in prison sentences
of up to two years.
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