Guardian correspondent Andrew Meldrum, who has lived in Zimbabwe for 23 years, was deported from Zimbabwe today.

According to information provided to the International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives, and leading journalists in over 115 countries, Meldrum was ordered to attend a meeting at the country’s immigration office. Upon arriving at the office, the journalist was told that he was being deported and driven directly to the airport.

Speaking of the journalist’s deportation, IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said, “Meldrum’s illegal and unwarranted removal is yet another example of the ongoing attempt by the government of President Robert Mugabe to prevent information on the appalling situation in Zimbabwe finding its way out of the country.

“For almost three years, the Zimbabwean government has systematically attempted to suppress independent reporting on events in the country. Meldrum’s deportation is one of numerous press violations which have seen journalists tortured, arrested, imprisoned, and tried under unjust and flawed media legislation.

“Press freedom is being extinguished in Zimbabwe. Soon there will be no foreign journalists left in the country, and press freedom will be left in the hands of those courageous journalists in the country brave enough to report independently – journalists who have always been at the mercy of this government and its security services.”