The Zimbabwe government on Tuesday refused to renew the work permit of the AFP bureau chief in Harare, who must now leave the country by the end of the week.
AFP’s chairman and chief executive officer Bertrand Eveno expressed the international news agency’s ”deep regret” at the decision in a letter to the Zimbabwe government.
Stephane Barbier (43) who has been the bureau chief in the five-country regional office in Harare since July 2001, must leave by Saturday when his current work permit expires.
Eveno said in the letter that AFP has maintained a regional office in Zimbabwe for 22 years ”acting always in good faith and strict compliance with all laws and regulations of your country.”
”I am obliged to register Agence France-Presse’s sincere disappointment in this matter,” Eveno said.
In September the Zimbabwe authorities refused to renew the work permit of Griffin Shea, a US national working for AFP. Barbier’s initial one-year permit had been extended by six months in June this year.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo in July indicated to AFP that under the country’s new press law, only Zimbabwean journalists would be allowed to work in the country.
President Robert Mugabe enacted a law in March that imposed stringent limits on press freedoms for independent and foreign journalists working in the country.
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act allows only permanent residents or Zimbabwean nationals to operate as journalists on a long-term basis. Foreign journalists may work only for an unspecified ”limited period” or cover specific events.
The Supreme Court is due to make a ruling in a lawsuit filed by Zimbabwean journalists challenging the constitutionality of the law.
Subject to registration under the new law, AFP plans to keep its Harare office manned by Zimbabwean journalists but the regional office will move to Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Harare bureau covers Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. – Sapa-AFP