Three members of the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) have been arrested, as intimidation of media professionals in Zimbabwe surges.
On 5 December, police arrested Fadzai December and Molly Chimhanda, advocacy officers with MMPZ, in Gwanda. They were charged under the Public Order and Security Act with allegedly organising a gathering without notifying police, and also under the Criminal Law with allegedly distributing subversive materials. The gathering in question was a community meeting about public information rights held on 24 November. December and Chimhanda were denied bail. The official reasons given were that December and Chimhanda were likely to interfere with the witnesses, that they were of a young age and impressionable and therefore more likely to flee, that the case was sensitive, and that the investigation was still ongoing. The police also arrested and detained Gilbert Mabusa, the chairman of MMPZ’s Public Information Rights Forum Committee.
Police also arrested and questioned the MMPZ director, Andrew Moyse, for allegedly distributing subversive material. He was later released; however the police raided MMPZs offices and seized DVDs, which according to the group called for balanced reporting on elections in an effort to ensure that they are free and fair. According to the police, MMPZ officers allegedly published false statements prejudicial to the state, and the police was looking for compact discs containing Gurkahundi information.
MMPZ is not an isolated case. Just two days earlier Stanley Gama, the Daily News editor, and Xolisani Ncube, a reporter, were arrested for publishing an allegedly defamatory article about Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Ignatius Chombo, titled Chombo brags about riches.
The editor of the Standard, Nevanji Madanhire, and reporter Nqaba Matshazi were also arrested and charged with alleged criminal defamation and theft earlier in November 2011. The Standard had published a story about a medical aid company owned by central bank advisor Munyaradzi Kereke reportedly facing financial difficulties.
Several journalists have been arrested or detained by police this year. Some fear that this could be a pre-emptive crackdown on the media to silence critics of President Mugabe’s party, ZANU-PF, before a general election next year.
There was hope that the coalition government formed in 2009 by President Robert Mugabe and his opponent, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, would ease Zimbabwe’s tight media laws. The government allows licenses for private newspapers but progress has been slow, and the defamation laws are continually being used against journalists.
These cases have led to outrage among civil society groups, with the American embassy releasing a statement to voice its concerns over the treatment of journalists in Zimbabwe: “The embassy of the United States of America in Zimbabwe notes with regret and concern the increased frequency of arrests and detention of media workers and civil society activists throughout 2011.”
IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills said: “Continued harassment of journalists fuels self-censorship and will hinder reporting on the next general election. Journalists must be able to do their job without fear of intimidation in the lead up to the election. Zimbabwe must have a free press that is able to hold the authorities to account. We call for the immediate release of Fadzai December, Molly Chimhanda and Gilbert Mabusa. We urge the Zimbabwean government to stop the harassment and intimidation of journalists and to allow journalists to work freely.”
