/ 16 March 2000

NAKED AUSTRIANS OFFEND ZIM COPS

NAKED Austrian men appear to be more offensive to Zimbabwe’s police than the torture of journalists or the invasion of farms by thousands of squatters. Zimbabwe Independent editor Trevor Ncube said police questioned him over the publication of a news agency picture showing “a group of naked Austrians in a stampede to take advantage of a special offer outside a Vienna department store” last week. Police told him that he and his deputy, Iden Wetherall, were under investigation in terms of the Censorship and Entertainment Control Act. Ncube said it was significant that the attorney-general, who is a member of the cabinet, has instructed police to investigate a newspaper that has been outspoken in its criticism of government for not upholding the rule of law.