The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned on Tuesday a campaign of intimidation against Zimbabwe’s top opposition independent newspaper the Daily News.
The paper ”is being put to the sword by a campaign of intimidation involving powerful people, pretty bureaucrats and the police,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White.
The newspaper is facing closure because of new registration rules, which ”are designed to force media to toe the government line or face extinction,” said the lobby group in a statement.
The IFJ, the world’s largest organisation of journalists representing over 500 000 members around the globe, said the ”paper is facing extinction because of the use of repressive legislation to stifle opposition voices.
”The very least we can expect is that the police protect journalists from attacks and threats, but in Zimbabwe today even that cannot be guaranteed,” it added.
The paper, whose well-known editor Geoff Nyarota was recently fired, does not want to register itself as a media house, as required under the 2002 Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Two Zimbabwe journalists arrested on Monday in scuffles outside Haraare’s High Court where the treason trial of the main opposition leader began this week, were freed on Tuesday without charge, a lawyer said.
The journalists, including Pedzisai Ruhanya of the Daily News, were arrested after they confronted police over why they were letting only state-accredited journalists into the court to witness the trial.
The other arrested journalist was Ish Mafundikwa, who freelances for several foreign and local organisations, including AFP. – Sapa-AFP