Zimbabwe

2013

  
Zenzele Ndebele (Liesl Frankson/Wits Vuvuzela)

Q&A: Zenzele Ndebele promotes radio in Zimbabwe

With Zimbabwe elections days away, the fight over access to the airwaves has intensified. The media environment has loosened slightly compared with previous years, but most Zimbabweans still lack access to independent sources of news, including radio. One person familiar with obstacles to broadcasting is Zenzele Ndebele, editor of Radio Dialogue, a community radio station…

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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace greet party supporters on their arrival at a campaign rally in Chitungiwiza, Zimbabwe, on Tuesday. (AP/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

As Zimbabwe vote nears, state media drown out others

When Star-FM launched on June 25, 2012, it was the first time in 30 years that Zimbabweans, who have known no other radio besides the state-controlled Radio Zimbabwe, had the chance to call in to a radio station to express their views. 

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A bid to rid Africa of criminal defamation, sedition laws

The African Union’s special rapporteur on freedom of expression and access to information, Commissioner Pansy Tlakula, has launched an auspicious initiative in East Africa to counter criminal defamation and sedition laws. Since independence, authorities and business interests in the East and Horn region have used criminal laws on sedition, libel, and insult–often relics of former,…

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A Zimbabwean citizen passes election posters advertising election candidates. At least four journalists have been attacked in the lead-up to the elections in July. (AFP/Alexander Joe)

Zimbabwean journalists targeted amid pre-election tension

Cape Town, South Africa, June 18, 2013–All parties in Zimbabwe’s government of national unity must respect the responsibility of journalists to document events and report the views of citizens, especially in the run-up to the country’s elections in July, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In four different cases this month, reporters have been…

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Zimbabwe journalists charged after military-MDC story

Cape Town, South Africa, May 8, 2013–Police in Harare have filed criminal charges against two Zimbabwean journalists on accusations they published “false statements prejudicial to the state” in a story about behind-the-scenes discussions between military leaders and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. 

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Reporters surround Beatrice Mtetwa as she exited a courthouse today. (ZLHR/Kumbirai Mafunda)

Zimbabwe frees prominent lawyer Mtetwa on bail

Beatrice Mtetwa, a tenacious lawyer who has won accolades for stubbornly defending journalists and others persecuted by Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe, regained her freedom today after a hellish week that began on March 17 when she was arrested and charged with the criminal offense of “defeating or obstructing the course of justice.”

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Zimbabwe must heed rule of law in Beatrice Mtetwa case

Dear Minister: We are writing to express our concern about the arrest on Sunday of award-winning human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa and her subsequent detention by police in defiance of an order issued by a high court judge. We believe this invalidates the criminal proceedings instituted against her on Wednesday and constitutes an affront to the constitution and legal system of your country.

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Zenzele Ndebele is released after being detained by police for several hours. (Kucaca Phulu)

Zimbabwe police raid station studios, detain journalist

Nairobi, March 1, 2013–Authorities in Zimbabwe have stepped up their crackdown on independent news coverage in the country by raiding the production studios of a radio station and confiscating radios distributed by nongovernmental organizations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Local Zimbabweans often use radios to hear news coverage of elections. (Reuters/Emmanuel Chitate)

Zimbabwean police seize radios in run-up to elections

Nairobi, February 28, 2013–Zimbabwean authorities’ seizure of hand-cranked and solar-powered radios distributed by nongovernmental organizations prevents local citizens from accessing diverse sources of information in the run-up to the country’s general elections in July, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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2013