CBJ condemns attack on newspaper distributors

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THE Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the beating of distributors for the private weekly The Zimbabwean on Sunday last Saturday.

Unknown assailants hijacked and burned down the distributors’ truck, which was carrying 60,000 copies of the paper, according to its England-based publishers.

“Attacking these media workers and burning newspapers is nothing but brutal censorship of one of the country’s last remaining independent news outlets,” said CPJ’s Africa Program Coordinator, Tom Rhodes.

“We encourage the police, who have already opened an investigation into this attack, to find those responsible and bring them to justice as soon as possible in order to send a signal that violence against the press will not be tolerated.”

Wilf Mbanga, the paper’s editor said on May 24, eight men armed with AK-47 rifles intercepted the truck’s driver, Christmas Ramabulana, and distribution agent Tapfumaneyi Kancheta at Ngunda Halt, about 93 miles (150 kilometres) south of Masvingo.

The armed group took over the 16-gear truck and drove the distributors in separate cars to a remote location in Madamabwe. The assailants beat Ramabulana and Kencheta with rifle butts and left them in the bushes, Mbanga said.

Political tensions and violence are on the rise in the country as run-off presidential elections approach on June 27.

Police are yet to make an arrest in connection with the interception of the newspaper. A spokesman said investigations were in progress.
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