Posted on 01/26/2003 3:30:09 PM PST by Clive
Harare - Zimbabwe has arrested five foreign journalists for allegedly entering the southern African country under false pretenses, and might charge them under tough media and security laws, police said on Sunday.
The five from the United States, Finland, Kenya and two from Germany were "picked up" on Saturday together with a Zimbabwean reporter from a private daily newspaper after travelling to Zimbabwe's central district of Zvishavane on their assignment, the police's chief spokesperson said.
Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said the police were not yet ready to release details of those detained, but it was investigating them on a number issues.
"Technically, they are not yet under arrest, but we picked them up on information that they entered the country under false pretenses, declaring that they were working for some aid agency, and had come to monitor food distribution," he said.
Bvudzijena was responding to a report in the official Sunday Mail newspaper that some journalists were under arrest.
"Our laws say foreign journalists must apply to come into the country, and these journalists also have some interesting documents suggesting they could be on some clandestine mission," he told Reuters.
"If we charge them, we could charge them for entering the country under false pretenses or under the Public Order and Security Act while the local journalist could be charged with assisting in contravening national laws," he added.
The Sunday Mail said the foreign journalists were "suspected to have been sent into the country to secretly write stories aimed at tarnishing the image of the government."
The Zimbabwean government has waged a relentless campaign against the Western press in the past three years, accusing some journalists of spearheading a hate campaign against President Robert Mugabe's government.
Last year, the government passed tough media laws to a clamour of protest from media freedom organisations, banning foreign journalists from being based permanently in Zimbabwe and requiring journalists to apply to come into the country for short periods.
Media houses and Zimbabwean journalists are obliged to apply to a government-controlled media and information commission for permission to operate and work in the country.
The law punishes "abuse of journalistic privilege," such as publishing falsehoods, with fines and up to two years in prison.
More than a dozen journalists have been charged under the media laws, including a US citizen and correspondent for Britain's Guardian newspaper, Andrew Meldrum, who was acquitted last July of charges of reproducing a false story.
Meldrum, a Zimbabwe permanent resident, is challenging his subsequent deportation from the country.
In November, Zimbabwe's Supreme Court reserved judgment on a challenge by journalists against the media laws.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.