Posts Tagged ‘Zimbabwe’
December 15th, 2011
Detained staff from a
Zimbabwean media monitoring project have
been refused bail. Advocacy officers Molly Chimhanda and Fadzai December from
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ), and an another MMPZ member, Gilbert Mabusa, were arrested on
5 December. The three were granted bail of US$50 by a Gwanda magistrate, but the state subsequently suspended that ruling. As the bail order has been suspended, Chinhanda, December and Mabusa must now the filing of an appeal to the High Court by the state within seven days.
December 8th, 2011
Staff from a
Zimbabwean free expression organisation have been
arrested and detained. Advocacy officers Molly Chimhanda and Fadzai December from
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ), and an accompanying member of MMPZ, Gilbert Mabusa, were arrested on 5 December 2011 in the city of Gwanda.
The trio are being charged with ”participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of the peace or bigotry,” following a meeting in November during which they distributed a DVD calling on the media to promote a peaceful electoral process.
December 6th, 2011
Zimbabwean police
stormed the offices of a daily newspaper, and arrested one of it’s journalists last week. Xolisani Ncube of Daily News was arrested on December 2, in connection with an article about a government minister that appeared in the paper last month. Newspaper editor,
Stanely Gama handed himself over to the police after being summoned for the same investigation. Police sources said it is likely the pair will be tried for criminal defamation following the article, “Chombo brags about riches”, in which they said Ingatius Chombo had bragged about his wealth.
December 2nd, 2011
A
Zimbabwean newspaper is facing a
defamation suit from a retired colonel.
ZANU-PF member Claudius Makova is suing local paper the Masvingo Mirror for USD 100,000 after it published a story referring to Makova’s alleged interests in Bikita Minerals, the country’s sole lithium producer. Makova claimed the defamatory statements lay in references to him as “stupid and greedy,” and said his reputation had been damaged.
June 30th, 2011
Police in
Zimbabwe have arrested two journalists from the Sunday Standard newspaper: editor Nevanje Madanhire and reporter Patience Nyangove for
publishing allegedly “false statements” about the arrest of a government official. The official, Jameson Timba is minister for the Movement for Democratic Change party and
was arrested for reportedly calling President Robert Mugabe a liar. Mr Timba’s release was later ordered during a special hearing in the Harare High Court. It is a criminal offence to insult the President under Zimbabwean law. Nyangove and Ramakgapola were charged with “publishing false statements prejudicial to the state” and are due to appear in court tomorrow.
March 22nd, 2011
A court has
refused bail to Vikas Mavhudzi, who was arrested on charges of subversion for a Facebook remark. He had posted a comment on Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Facebook page about the Egyptian uprisings. In February 46 people were
arrested and charged with treason for watching videos of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
February 25th, 2011
Police in Harare this week
arrested 46 activists and trade union members who were watching videos of demonstrations in Egypt and Tunisia. They have been charged with treason for trying to organise an uprising against the government. Lawyers for some of the detained
allege that they have been beaten while in custody.
December 17th, 2010
Grace Mugabe has filed a
lawsuit against Standard newspaper claiming $15m for defamation. The newspaper published leaked US cables from wikileaks alleging the first lady of gaining millions of dollars from illegal diamond trade.
Other high ranking officials implicated by the cables include Joyce Mujuru, the vice-president, and the head of the army, General Constantine Chiwenga. The first lady has reacted calling the allegations “false, scandalous, malicious, wrongful and defamatory”. The diamond trade in Zimbabwe, known as
“blood diamond” is notorious for its violence and extensive human rights abuse.
