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Zimbabwe's Elections 2013 - Index of Articles
Journalists fear violent poll
Njabulo Ncube,
NewsDay
July 15, 2013
http://www.newsday.co.zw/2013/07/15/journalists-fear-violent-poll/
The 60-member
Sadc Parliamentary Forum observer mission in the country for the
July
31 harmonised elections was on Saturday told that Zimbabwean
journalists feared they will be targeted during the polls because
of lack of media reforms guaranteeing their security.
Sadc Parliamentary
Forum members, who arrived in the country last week on Wednesday,
met representatives from the Media
Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Zimbabwe Chapter, the Zimbabwe
Union of Journalists (ZUJ), the Zimbabwe Media Commission and
the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe.
The regional
grouping sought to hear the views of the country’s media regarding
the coverage of the polls.
ZUJ secretary-general
Foster Dongozi said the biggest concern was the safety and protection
of journalists as they covered the polls unilaterally proclaimed
by President Robert Mugabe without requisite reforms in the media.
Dongozi said
journalists feared covering the polls in the wake of the criminalisation
of the profession by State security agents who had no qualms in
arresting reporters in the line of duty.
“We have
seen a huge increase in the arrest of journalists, including severe
beating, in recent weeks,” Dongozi said.
“Such
actions have a huge bearing on how the media will cover these elections.”
Misa director
Nhlanhla Ngwenya told the mission that recent incidents of assault
and harassment of journalists by Zanu-PF and MDC-T pointed to a
volatile working environment for the media.
“This
is evidenced by the increase in the number of cases involving the
assault and harassment of journalists in the wake of the proclamation
of July 31 as the date for Zimbabwe’s general elections,”
he said. “For example, six months into the year, 2013 has
already recorded 58% of cases recorded in 2011 alone, a year that
was generally characterised by political calmness.”
Ngwenya said
Sadc should insist that the government of Zimbabwe guarantees that
journalists covering the elections would be allowed to conduct their
duties without hindrance.
On June 14,
a Chinhoyi-based journalist, Paul Pindani, was abducted from his
home, severely assaulted and left for dead by unknown assailants
who were wearing masks.
Other cases
involve the assault of Zimbabwe Independent reporter Herbert Moyo
and the harassment and detention of Mashudu Netsiada, a senior reporter
with the Chronicle, by MDC-T supporters and security personnel.
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