About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

MUGABE SIGNS RESTRICTIVE MEDIA LAW

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, fresh from an electoral victory many international observers have condemned as unfair, has signed the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act into law. The new law requires all journalists in Zimbabwe to be licenced by a new Media and Information Commission granted "enormous powers" that can be subject to abuse, says the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). The law imposes "severe limits" on foreign journalists in the country, remarks the International Federation of Journalists; they can only be accredited for an unspecified "limited" period while citizens and permanent residents will be entitled to permanent accreditation.

Calling the law "restrictive and undemocratic," MISA says the Minister of Information will have the power to determine the makeup of the commission. In turn, the commission will have the power to demand that journalists prove that they are qualified before granting accreditation and to summon journalists to hearings if they are charged with violating the law's regulations. [See IFEX "Communiqués" #11-10, #11-5].">http://communique.ifex.org/articles.cfm?system_id=4217">#11-10, #11-5].

For more information, see www.misa.org and www.ifj.org.">http://www.misa.org">www.misa.org and www.ifj.org.