Johannesburg | Tuesday
ZIMBABWEAN journalist Basildon Peta on Tuesday denied he had admitted fabricating stories about his arrested and incarceration in Harare recently, the South African Independent Newspapers group’s foreign service reported.
“I did not admit to fabricating anything… I’ve never fabricated anything in my life,” he said in response to British newspaper reports that he had admitted to this.
News agency reports from London earlier on Tuesday said Peta, who is also secretary general of the Zimbabwean Union of Journalists, had “admitted that he fabricated stories about being arrested and incarcerated in a Harare police cell”. The reports cited the British press, specifically The Times.
It was reported that The Times said Peta admitted late on Monday that he had not been locked overnight in a cell but was in fact interviewed at the police station in the presence of his lawyer. He was allowed to leave later and agreed to return the next day, Peta reportedly told the newspaper.
Peta said on Tuesday he had not admitted lying.
“My record as a journalist stands,” said the correspondent, who has worked for Independent Newspapers in South Africa for some time, and more recently become a correspondent for The Independent in London.
“What is now being reported is grossly unfair and unfortunate,” he said.
Peta said he had not told Independent Newspapers in South Africa that he had been jailed continuously.
As soon as he became available after the arrest, he let it be known that he had been arrested, taken to a police station, held for several hours, and released late that night. He was told to return by morning.
“I had good reason for not mentioning my release, because I wanted to protect people who were protecting me,” he said.
In early reports written as the drama in Harare was unfolding on Monday night, newspapers of the Independent group reported that Peta had called his wife at 8pm to say he was going to be held overnight. That was all the information available at that point.
Only hours later was he able to secure his temporary release from the police station – a development not anticipated at 8pm. Meanwhile, Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge on Monday ruled out separate accreditation for an EU observer delegation to next month’s presidential election.
“There is no invitation to the EU as an organisation. I have written to them that Zimbabwe has formally invited nine members of the EU in their individual national capacities, and we have asked that they join the ACP-led delegation,” Mudenge told state television.
“Anybody else who comes, in our usual hospitality, he or she comes as a tourist, and we have not yet banned tourists from Zimbabwe. All tourists are welcome, but only those who have a letter of invitation from the government of Zimbabwe are going to be observers,” he said.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has insisted that the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries take the lead in a joint observer mission.
The six EU countries excluded are Sweden, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland, which Zimbabwe has accused of backing the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The chief EU observer is Sweden’s UN ambassador Pierre Schori, who arrived in Harare late on Sunday.
His representative Stephan Amer said that the government has yet to officially notify him of a decision on whether he will be accredited.
Amer said earlier on Monday that the first team of 30 observers is expected to arrive in the country on Tuesday, but only from EU countries.
The European Commission recommended on Friday that sanctions be imposed by Wednesday, in protest against Harare’s attempts to exclude certain EU states from the European observer mission for the election.
If implemented, the sanctions would include a travel ban on Mugabe, his family and close associates, a freeze on any assets they might hold in EU member states, and a suspension of longer-term development aid.
The EU also reserved the right to implement sanctions if journalists are prevented from covering the polls, or if the polling is judged not to have been free and fair. – AFP