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Police
bar Family Fun Day
MISA-Zimbabwe
September 04, 2007
Police on 1
September 2007 barred a Family Fun Day organised in Bulawayo by
Radio
Dialogue saying the meeting had not been sanctioned in terms
of the repressive Public
Order and Security Act (POSA).
The meeting had been
scheduled for White City Stadium only to be disrupted by the police
who ordered an estimated 300 people who had already gathered at
the venue to disperse.
Radio Dialogue
is community radio station aspiring to broadcast to the community
of Bulawayo and its surrounding areas as provided for in terms of
the Broadcasting
Services Act.
In a statement Radio
Dialogue condemned the police action as unwarranted as they had
been given verbal clearance three days in advance as evidenced by
the presence of police officers from Mabutweni police station who
were on duty at the stadium prior to the abrupt cancellation of
the family fun day activities.
The station's crew
was busy setting its equipment at the venue when two police officers
and a chief inspector sought clarification on whether the event
had been cleared. They then took Radio Dialogue administrator Kudzai
Kwangwari to their headquarters at Southampton House where he was
told by their superiors that the event had been banned.
Kwangwari was then taken
to the Provincial Police Headquarters at Ross Camp where he was
informed of the 'new criteria' pertaining to police clearance for
public events which required that clearance should first be sought
from their headquarters. Previously Radio Dialogue would get verbal
clearances at district and local police stations for its public
events.
The police returned to
the venue one and half hours later and announced that the planned
activities could not proceed as planned leading to the dispersal
of the crowd that had gathered for the event.
For more information
contact Kudzai Kwangwari, on (09) 884858 or Cell: 011618873
Visit
the MISA-Zimbabwe fact
sheet
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
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