LEON ENGELBRECHT, Harare | Friday
DETAINED Zimbabwean journalist Peta Thornycroft was moved from Chimanimani to a police cell in Mutare, north east of Harare, on Thursday afternoon, her son, Adrian, said on Friday.
“She has had access to her lawyer, which is a good thing. Her cousin has also seen her and said she seems okay,” he said.
Adrian said his 57-year-old mother would probably be jailed for the weekend, as the courts were closed.
“It’s the normal harassment they’re doing.”
Her lawyer, Tapiwanashe Kujinga, who saw her on Thursday afternoon, also said the journalist seemed fine. “She told me she had no complaints and they (the police) were treating her well.”
Speaking from Chimanimani, east of Harare, where Thornycroft was arrested on Wednesday afternoon under the Public Order and Security Act, Kujinga said there was still no indication when Thornycroft would appear in court.
She has been charged with publishing false statements likely to prejudice state security and inciting public violence. Each offence carries a two-year prison sentence.
The Act also allows the authorities to detain suspects for up to seven days, and makes criticism of President Robert Mugabe a criminal offence.
Thornycroft, a Zimbabwean citizen with a South African residence permit, is a correspondent for a number of publications, including the Johannesburg-based Mail & Guardian (M&G), Britain’s Daily Telegraph and Business Day,.
Thornycroft was in Chimanimani to investigate reports of reprisal violence against supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change after the flawed March 9-11 presidential election.
M&G editor Howard Barrell pledged to support Thornycroft.
“Peta is a journalist of immense energy and integrity. This makes her precisely the kind of journalist dictators most fear,” he said.
The Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) of Southern Africa also condemned the arrest.
“We call for Thornycroft’s immediate release without harm or further harassment,” FCA chairman Kurt Shillinger said in a statement.
“Infringements of media freedoms are unacceptable. As Zimbabwe’s crisis deepens, however, we fear that more is at stake even the lives and well-being of our colleagues.”
The Cape Town Press Club also condemned the arrest, and urged the South African government to act on her behalf.
“The Cape Town Press Club condemns the arrest and detention of journalist Peta Thornycroft in Zimbabwe on what appear (to be) trumped up charges.”
The Johannesburg Press Club said it was typical for an embattled administration such as Mugabe’s that his police would act with “such vengeance”.
“When things go wrong with governments such as that of President Mugabe it seems that the journalists often are the first to suffer the consequences,” the Johannesburg Press Club said in a statement.
“We just hope that sense will prevail and that Thornycroft will be released unharmed as soon as possible.”
The Democratic Alliance also commented, saying the arrest was “Mugabe giving the Commonwealth the finger.”
Chief Whip Douglas Gibson said in a statement the arrest was yet another expression of President Mugabe’s contempt for the Commonwealth’s attempts to restore the rule of law and human rights in Zimbabwe.
“Once again, his assurances given to the international community, via Presidents Mbeki and (Olusegun) Obasanjo, that he would seek reconciliation with the opposition for the good of the country have been honoured only in the breech.”
The New National Party, for its part, said Thornycroft’s arrest posed a “direct threat” to the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
“The actions of Mugabe are directly in conflict with the Nepad declaration that was adopted at Abuja, Nigeria in October 2001,” representative Francois Beukman said in a statement.
“The Orwellian-like environment for the media in Zimbabwe is not in line with democracy and human rights. The restoration of a free media environment in Zimbabwe is a prerequisite for the promotion and marketing of Nepad to the G8. The sponsors of Nepad should ensure that the necessary pressure is exerted on Zimbabwe to achieve a free media environment.”
Zimbabwe’s government on Wednesday also threatened to prosecute the editor of the country’s only private daily newspaper over a story about calls for a presidential election run-off, SABC radio news reported.
Reports said Information Minister Jonathan Moyo had written to Daily News editor Geoff Nyarota asking him to correct what Moyo termed “deliberate falsehoods” or face legal action.
The Daily News reported last week that the African Caribbean Pacific-European Union Joint Assembly in Cape Town had passed a resolution calling for a fresh election. – Sapa
Zimbabwe Elections
South African Observer Mission’s report on Zimbabwe (Winzip file)
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