Zimbabwe detains 3 journalists during protest

Zimbabwe detains 3 journalists during protest

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By Agencies

ZIMBABWE police have arrested three press photographers covering a demonstration in Harare, in a sweep that also saw more than 50 women protesters detained.

Lawyers and witnesses said on Tuesday Howard Burditt of Reuters, freelance Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Desmond Kwande of the Zimbabwe Daily Mirror newspaper were picked up at a public park opposite Zimbabwe's parliament where the protest was taking place.

The demonstration was against a proposed law on non-governmental organisations.

"The three (journalists) have not yet been charged, but there are suggestions they could face charges of obstructing police work," said Alec Muchadehama, a lawyer who represents Reuters in Zimbabwe. All three are Zimbabwe citizens.

Police were not immediately available for comment.

Police in Zimbabwe have arrested journalists on charges of obstructing police work in the past, part of what government opponents say is a broader crackdown on media freedoms.

President Robert Mugabe's government enacted tough media laws two years ago requiring journalists and media houses to register with a state-appointed media commission and imposing fines and jail terms on anyone convicted of publishing falsehoods.

Critics say the law, which also bars foreign journalists from working in the country, has been used to curtail press freedom with Mugabe facing a political crisis that partly stems from his controversial re-election two years ago.

Three newspapers have been shut down, dozens of journalists have been arrested and some foreign journalists have been deported under the law.

The Zimbabwe government says the law is meant to bring professionalism to a sector it accuses of waging a Western-sponsored hate campaign against Mugabe.

Mugabe, 80 and in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has attracted international attention over his seizures of white-owned farms for black resettlement and the alleged rigging of his and his party's re-election in the last four years.

Government critics say the new bill proposed by Mugabe's ZANU-PF party on non-governmental organisations is aimed at closing down operations of some private human rights groups.

Tuesday's demonstration was organised by Women of Zimbabwe Arise, a pressure group that has mounted a number of protests over civil liberties in recent years.

Representatives of the group said 54 demonstrators were taken into custody and remained in police hands late on Tuesday, although no official charges had been filed - Reuters
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