Zimbabwe journalists face imprisonment 2005-05-06

On 19 April 2005, the editor of the Standard, one of the few remaining independent newspapers in Zimbabwe, was arrested in connection with a story alleging that ballot boxes had gone missing during the recent parliamentary elections. Such incidents continue to be commonplace in Zimbabwe, where, with the aid of some of the most authoritarian legislation in Africa and a politicised judiciary and police force, the government has suffocated the independent press.

This legislation includes the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which among other things prescribes which journalists can write, what they can write and for whom. It also allows for the creation of a government-appointed Media Information Commission, responsible for issuing and withdrawing licences to journalists and all publications.

Failure to register attracts a two-year jail sentence.

This year alone, one independent newspaper has been forced to close, four Zimbabwean journalists freelancing for the international press have been forced into exile under threat of arrest, and journalists from all the privately-owned newspapers have been harassed.

Following the disputed election on 31 March, Zimbabwe has sought to intensify its control of information and has resurrected the Ministry of Information. The reporting of the politicisation of food distribution or, of news deemed to be "false information", is a criminal offence, punishable by up to 20 years in jail. It's perhaps not a surprise that the Committee to Protect Journalists has named Zimbabwe as one of the ten worst places to be a journalist.

Andrew Furlong,

Co-ordinator, Zimbabwe group, Irish section, Amnesty International, Sean MacBride House, Fleet Street, Dublin 2