The International Press Institute condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the decision by Zimbabwean authorities to put a United States journalist on trial for having published an erroneous article.
Andrew Meldrum, who writes for Britain’s The Guardian among others, became the first person to face trial under Zimbabwe’s tough new media law on Wednesday, in a test case for how the courts will treat the widely condemned information act.
Meldrum pleaded innocent to the charge of publishing falsehood, which falls under a provision of the act that criminalised “abuse of journalistic privilege.”
In a letter addressed to Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, the institute said the new law “is generally seen as a charter to repress the media”.
The Vienna-based organisation appealed to Mugabe to stop the trial and withdraw the law. – AFP