Sky News TV crew thrown out of Zimbabwe

Sky News TV crew thrown out of Zimbabwe

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By Agencies

ZIMBABWE today asked a British television crew to leave the country, saying it had entered the country illegally without observing tough media laws on the registration of journalists.

President Robert Mugabe's government has largely banned foreign journalists from working permanently in Zimbabwe and tightly controls visiting reporters as it fights a political and economic crisis it blames on opponents.

Jonathan Moyo, the information minister, in a statement today said a Sky television news crew had "arrogantly" flown into the country without government authority or clearance from Zimbabwe's mission in London. "What makes the conduct of this crew appear deliberately contemptuous and thus reprehensible is the fact that before leaving Britain, the crew actually received a clear response from the department (of information) outlining the government position and expectation before its proposed visit," he said.

"Accordingly the department requires that forthwith, the Sky News crew complies with our national laws ... including the requirement that foreign media applicants secure permission to fly into the country for purposes of accreditation from their country of origin and work."

"Failure to comply would, naturally, trigger a decisive response from agencies whose duty it is to uphold the rule of law in the country," he added.

In London, Sky said it had not tried to enter the country clandestinely and believed it had clearance to send a two-man crew from Johannesburg to film matters related to cricket. "We are not sure that we are being thrown out. We are just waiting to hear from the government to clarify what their attitude is. We are a bit surprised," Adrian Wells, Sky's head of foreign news, told Reuters in London.

Moyo and officials from his office were unavailable for further comment on where the Sky News team was and how many people it included. Relations with British media have turned particularly sour as the former colonial power has spearheaded international sanctions targeting Mugabe and senior members of his cabinet.

Mugabe's government has forced one of the country's leading daily newspapers to shut and deported a number of foreign journalists under media laws obliging reporters and media companies to register with a state information commission.

The government insists the 2002 media laws are necessary to restore professionalism in journalism. It accuses the private media of leading a propaganda campaign by opponents of its policy of seizing white-owned farms for landless blacks. - Reuters
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