Zimbabwe police said on Friday they have opened a murder investigation into the death of an independent journalist, and lawyers acting for another reporter arrested under sweeping media laws said he was assaulted and tortured in custody.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said the body of Edward Chikombo, a former cameraman at the government-run Zimbabwe television, the sole TV station, was found on March 31, dumped in the Darwindale district, about 30km north-west of his home in the Harare township of Glen View. He had been missing since March 29.
There were indications Chikombo was assaulted and died from injuries, state radio quoted Bvudzijena as saying. No further details were given.
No confirmation was available on reports that Chikombo, who left the state broadcaster in 2002, had sold footage of last month’s political unrest to foreign media organisations, including images of the injuries of assaulted opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other pro-democracy activists.
A second independent journalist, Gift Phiri, was freed on bail on Thursday after nearly a week in custody, suffered a broken finger and other injuries in police assaults and ”torture”, said Rangu Nyamurundu, his lawyer.
Phiri was hospitalised for further medical examinations after his release. He was charged under media laws for allegedly writing ”falsehoods” and working as a journalist without a government licence for the British-based newspaper the Zimbabwean and an online news service run by Zimbabwean exiles.
The alleged offences carry a penalty of a fine or up to two years in jail. Phiri is scheduled to go to trial on April 25.
Controversial article
The state Herald, a government mouthpiece, said on Friday that Phiri was accused of writing an article for the Zimbabwean saying that army generals demanded long-time ruler President Robert Mugabe step down to make way for a military-led government.
He had also written about an alleged ruling-party ”terror squad” linked to the torture of labour leaders and opposition activists.
Last month, the Zimbabwean reported Vice-President Joyce Mujuru resigned her post amid a revolt in Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party. The government denied that claim and the state media gave prominence to coverage of her going about routine government duties.
Mujuru’s husband, retired general Solomon Mujuru, the powerful former army commander, is seen as heading one of two rival factions in the ruling party. The Zimbabwean said the general could lead a coup to oust Mugabe.
In the past, suggestions of disaffection among soldiers and a possible military takeover have infuriated Mugabe, his loyalists and senior military officers.
In 1999, two journalists of the independent Sunday Standard were held at a Harare army base and beaten and tortured by military police for a week without being formally arrested or charged by civilian police. Authorities ignored at least two High Court rulings ordering their release or handover to the civil police.
Media suppression
If Chikombo’s death proves to have been politically motivated, it will be the first killing of a journalist in years of suppression of the independent media.
Since the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act was enforced in 2003, scores of independent journalists have been arrested or assaulted by ruling-party militants, including Zimbabwean reporters working for the foreign media.
Four independent newspapers have been shut down, one of them the only independent mass-circulation daily. The Daily News presses were also destroyed in a bombing the day after the government described it as a threat to national security.
Foreign reporters are routinely barred entry to the country.
Government pressure on independent journalists has intensified sharply since police violently broke up an opposition-led prayer meeting in Harare on March 11. Mugabe acknowledged Tsvangirai and fellow activists were ”bashed” by police — saying Tsvangirai ”asked for it”.
Two local journalists well known by police, arrested along with the activists, were also severely beaten and needed hospital treatment in what was seen as a warning to other independent reporters. — Sapa-AP