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Reporter
badly hurt in attack by three masked men
Reporters
Sans Frontières
June 21, 2013
http://en.rsf.org/zimbabwe-reporter-badly-hurt-in-attack-by-21-06-2013,44838.html
Reporters Without
Borders is very worried about the safety of journalists in Zimbabwe
after last week’s brutal attack on Paul Pindani, a reporter
for the Harare-based daily NewsDay. Three masked men abducted Pindani
from his home in Chinhoyi, 115 km west of Harare, and gave him a
severe beating over a NewsDay article.
“Coming
amid mounting intimidation and threats against the media, this physical
attack on a journalist does not bode well for the coming weeks,”
Reporters Without Borders said. “Given the climate of violence
and harassment of the media in which the last elections took place,
this incident must be taken seriously."
“Those
who think they can target the media with impunity must be dissuaded.
We urge the authorities to issue an appeal for calm and respect
for the physical safety of journalists.”
Pindani was
hospitalized with a broken arm and multiple lacerations following
the 14 June attack by masked men, who accused him of writing an
unbylined report in NewsDay about the arrest of a ruling Zanu-PF
party member for the murder of a local businessman.
Pindani and
the Zimbabwe
Union of Journalists (ZUJ) nonetheless insist that he did not
write the article. He was targeted because he is the omost widely
known Chinhoyi-based journalist reporting for NewsDay. The ZUJ said
he received threats several days before the attack.
Dozens of NewsDay
copies were meanwhile confiscated
in a Harare neighbourhood on 18 June because of an article about
the formation of an opposition coalition with the aim of bringing
down President Robert Mugabe. Zanu-PF members were thought to have
been responsible for the seizure.
Reporters Without Borders has already criticized the worsening security
situation for the media in Zimbabwe
ahead of the next elections. After unilaterally scheduling the
presidential election for 31 July, President Mugabe has asked a
court to delay it until 14 August:
Zimbabwe is
ranked
133rd out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders
press freedom index, while President Mugabe is on the Reporters
Without Borders list of “Predators of freedom of information”:
http://en.rsf.org/predator-zimbabwe-robert-mugabe-president,44532.html.
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