Zimbabwe

MISA-Zimbabwe has noted with very grave concern recent attacks and threats against the privately owned media, by Zanu PF and government officials, including the First Lady Grace Mugabe, which pose serious risks to the safety and security of journalists. While the media is not immune to criticism, the First Lady's inciting statements particularly against journalists working for the Daily News at a...

Police and politicians in Zimbabwe should respect the right of journalists to report the news without fear of intimidation or violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said after police beat up a journalist in capital Harare last week. The attack on Wednesday followed a statement made last week by Grace Mugabe, the wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, in which she said journalists...

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) today mourns the death of two journalists in Zimbabwe. The FAJ affiliate, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) announced yesterday the death of Mernart Mafirakureva, the business editor of The Chronicle and Zecheaus Nemadire a freelance journalist. Mafirakureva was involved in an accident while travelling to Harare on July 24th while Nemadire was...

Zimbabwean authorities should drop charges against the editor of the state-controlled Sunday Mail and release him immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Edmund Kudzayi, editor of the Sunday Mail, on Thursday morning after raiding his office at Herald House in the capital, Harare, according to reports. On Saturday, Kudzayi was charged with "attempting to...

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) has denounced today the continuous harassment of journalists in Zimbabwe. According to the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, ZUJ, a FAJ affiliate, unidentified armed men have yesterday June 19th, burgled the house of journalist Mduduzi Mathuthu editor with the newspaper The Chronicle in the eastern city of Bulawayo while the house of another journalist...

Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court ruled on June 12 that the country’s criminal defamation law violates a constitutional safeguard on freedom of expression. The ruling came in a case against two journalists charged with criminal defamation following a complaint by Munyaradzi Kereke, a member of the ruling Zanu PF party. Kereke filed the complaint in 2011 against Nevanji Madanhire, editor of The...

The ruling by Zimbabwe constitutional court on criminal defamation is a strong step towards democracy and law reinforcement, the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) said today. According to FAJ affiliate, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), the constitutional court of the country has on 12 June 2014, ruled that the criminal defamation law must be struck of the statutes. The law was...

The Committee to Protect Journalists has welcomed Thursday's move by Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court to strike down criminal defamation, saying it is not compatible with the country's new constitution. The court ruled that criminal defamation violated freedom of expression and that civil suits would adequately protect individuals alleging defamation, reports said. The ruling is in response to a...

At least two journalists reported being attacked, threatened, and obstructed in January 2014 in Zimbabwe, while a third was summoned to court a year after being charged, according to news reports. Godfrey Mutimba, correspondent for the independent Daily News newspaper, said he was attacked on January 22, 2014, in Masvingo, the capital town of southeastern Masvingo province, while reporting on a...

Nevanji Madanhire, the editor of independent weekly The Standard, was released on bail of 100 dollars (69 euros) on the evening of June 30, 24 hours after the release of his reporter, Patience Nyangove. Their release on bail was confirmed when they appeared in court July 1. The two journalists and Loud Ramakgopola, a senior employee of the company that owns The Standard, were arrested during a...