The Zimbabwe government has threatened foreign correspondents with
unspecified action for their reporting of the crisis in that country,
writes Torby Muturikwa.
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In a statement, the Ministry of Information and Publicity hit out at coverage on CNN, calling it “biased reportage of the situation in the countryâ€ÂÂ. The ministry also accused some foreign embassies based in Harare of clandestinely bringing in journalists to build up tensions. The government said it was concerned with the “false stories†emanating from the network regarding the country’s “security armsâ€ÂÂ.
“It (government) therefore advises these reporters, who include Peta Thornycroft and Jan Raath, to stay clear of the security forces, indeed to shun an opposition politician who has been deep-throating them. Should this not stop, government may be forced to act against them and the politician,†said the ministry.
Thornycroft writes for the UK Telegraph, while Raath writes for the Times.
The threats come on the backdrop of the deportation in 2003 of Andrew Meldrum, a correspondent of the Guardian and a permanent Zimbabwean resident.
Meanwhile, a former Daily News news editor, Luke Tamborinyoka, was among 35 activists arrested at the offices of the opposition MDC on charges of possessing arms.
