Charges against Botswana TV crew baseless

Charges against Botswana TV crew baseless - CPJ

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By Staff Reporter

THE Committee to Protect Journalists on Wednesday urged Zimbabwe to drop "baseless" charges against two Botswana TV journalists arrested at the weekend near the two countries' border.

Botswana Television reporter Beauty Mokoba and cameraman Koketso Seofela were accused of practicing journalism in Zimbabwe without accreditation, which carries a potential jail sentence of up to two years under tough media laws.

They were arrested on April 30 and held for two days before they were charged with violating Zimbabwe's draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), Botswana's director of broadcasting services, Bapasi Mphusu, confirmed.

They were both released on bail Tuesday. They will be tried in Zimbabwe, with a first hearing scheduled for May 23. Both will plead not guilty, Mphusu said.

Mokoba and Seofela were arrested near the Botswana-Zimbabwe border, where they had traveled to report on a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in local livestock and the possible role of cross-border cattle rustling in driving the epidemic, Mphusu told the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The disease has caused several neighboring countries to ban imports of Botswana beef, according to international news reports.

Zimbabwean police retained a videotape from the television crew, possibly for use as evidence in the trial, Mphusu said.

''It is obvious that Beauty Mokoba and Koketso Seofela were merely doing their job,'' said Ann Cooper, executive director of CPJ. ''These baseless charges against our colleagues should be dropped immediately.''
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