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NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

NewsDay staffers arrested

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NEWSDAY editor Wisdom Mdzungairi and senior reporter Richard Chidza were yesterday arrested on charges of undermining, insulting or ridiculing President Robert Mugabe.

NEWSDAY editor Wisdom Mdzungairi and senior reporter Richard Chidza were yesterday arrested on charges of undermining, insulting or ridiculing President Robert Mugabe.

by STAFF REPORTER

The arrests followed the publication of a story in Thursday’s issue of NewsDay titled “Mugabe in fresh health scare”.

The story stated that Mugabe had reportedly gone out of the country early on Wednesday morning for a medical check-up in the South East Asian city-state of Singapore, with his family having already left on Monday.

Although the Secretary for Media, Information and Broadcasting Services and Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, did not respond to questions sent to him by NewsDay, he, however, confirmed to the State media that Mugabe had indeed left the country for a “scheduled” medical review in Singapore.

NewsDay wrote that while officials claim that Mugabe frequently travels to Singapore to have eye check-ups, there were reports that he was afflicted by not only old age, but also prostate cancer.

Mdzungairi, Chidza and Alpha Media Holdings legal assistant Sifikile Thabete handed themselves at Harare Central Police Station yesterday morning where they had been summoned to report to the Law and Order department.

They were charged with breaching section 33 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, undermining, insulting or ridiculing the President.

However, the trio were released around 1600hours into the custody of their lawyer, Obey Shava of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, and are expected to appear in court today or on Monday.

The Zimbabwe National Editors’ Forum (Zinef) expressed shock at the arrest of the scribes over the story about Mugabe’s health.

Zinef chairman Dumisani Muleya said: “As editors, we have noted with alarm and grave concern the arrest of NewsDay editor Wisdom Mdzungairi and reporter Richard Chidza over a story they ran about President Mugabe’s health situation and trip to Singapore for a medical check-up.

“We urge the government and the police to stop unnecessary arrests and harassment of journalists for merely doing their job — that is, acting as a public watchdog and holding those in power to account. Such repressive measures and scare tactics, which have a chilling effect on journalism and democracy, are unhelpful. They only help further poison the environment and deepen polarisation in society.”

Muleya, who is also Zimbabwe Independent editor, said arresting journalists was in the final analysis “a costly exercise in futility” as that did not resolve the specific issue in question, but tarnished the image of the government and the nation.

He further said the government should come clean about Mugabe’s health.

“If authorities are unhappy with rumours that he has prostate cancer, they must address that by giving the accurate information and details, not resorting to such careless arrests and bullying. They must tell the nation and taxpayers — who pay for his trips to Singapore — what he is suffering from,” Muleya said.

Zimbabwe Union of Journalists secretary-general Foster Dongozi also condemned the arrest of the journalists saying government should not criminalise lawful publication of news.

“Someone somewhere has lost their mind. We certainly condemn any efforts to undermine or harass journalists while pursuing or performing their lawful duties,” Dongozi said.

He said the issue could have been handled differently by simply issuing a statement on Mugabe’s health status.

“The story pertaining to the health of the President excites and is of interest to all Zimbabweans. The best way to handle this was for the government to issue a statement clarifying the situation, not resorting to guns, bazookas and handcuffs,” Dongozi added.