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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Post-election violence 2008 - Index of articles & images
'Midlands
Observer' editor threatened for alleged pro-opposition bias
MISA-Zimbabwe
June 02, 2008
http://www.misa.org/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?category=2&id=1212404580
The editor of the "Midlands
Observer", Flata Kavinga, was threatened by a war veteran on
29 May 2008. The newspaper is based in Zimbabwe's city of Kwekwe
in the Midlands province.
According to Kavinga,
he was approached by the war veteran named Diva while he was standing
in a queue in a bank. Diva began by asking Kavinga if he knew the
"Midlands Observer" editor because there was a "programme
of action" to deal with him. The war veteran accused the newspaper
of being pro-opposition by supporting the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) and writing articles critical of the state. Furthermore,
he accused the paper of being anti-government, alleging that it
only publishes articles meant to discredit ZANU-PF.
Upon notifying Diva that
he was in actual fact the editor of the newspaper in question, Kavinga
was told to be careful or face the consequences.
Subsequently, on 1 June,
another "Midlands Observer" journalist, Kudakwashe Zvarayi,
was threatened by some top ZANU-PF officials of the Kwekwe district,
after being spotted putting on a MISA-Zimbabwe World Press Freedom
Day t-shirt.
According to Zvarayi,
the officials said: "Who are you to demand media freedom? Who
has deprived you of this freedom which you are clamoring for? If
you continue putting on this T-shirt we are going to beat you up
and burn the T-shirt also."
MISA-Zimbabwe condemns
the threatening and harassment of media practitioners going about
their professional duties, especially in light of the increase in
the number of journalists who are being wantonly victimized for
writing articles viewed to be "unfavorable" to the interests
of certain individuals.
MISA-Zimbabwe calls upon
the authorities to bring to justice perpetrators of politically-
motivated violence against journalists and ordinary citizens of
Zimbabwe. This is especially urgent in light of the post election
violence which has become rampant in the rural areas in the run-up
to the run-off elections scheduled for 27 June 2008.
Visit
the MISA-Zimbabwe fact
sheet
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