About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

Alert

Journalist arrested for practicing without accreditation and for "publishing falsehoods"

(MISA/IFEX) - On 18 January 2006, Sidney Saize, a journalist with the banned "Daily News", was arrested in the eastern border town of Mutare on allegations of practising journalism without the accreditation required by the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) reportedly interrogated Saize for three hours following his arrest and subsequent detention at Mutare Central Police Station.

Mutare Police confirmed with the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe that they were holding Saize, but declined to give details.

MISA-Zimbabwe originally engaged a lawyer, Trust Maanda, a member of the Media Lawyers Network, to look into the matter and secure Saize's release. Maanda visited the police station on 20 January, where he was told that Saize would be charged under Section 83 of AIPPA for practising journalism without accreditation. The offence carries a two-year prison term, a fine of Z$400,000 (approx. US$4,300), or both.

Police also indicated they are likely to further charge Saize under Section 15 of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for "publishing falsehoods." These charges derive from a story that the police say was broadcast on the Voice of America (VOA) radio programme "Studio 7", and carry a potential fine of Z$100,000 (approx. US$1,080), or a five year jail term, or both.

Saize's own lawyer, Innocent Gonese, who subsequently took over the case from Maanda, informed MISA-Zimbabwe that the police allege Saize wrote a false story for VOA. The story claimed that war veterans and youths from the National Training Camps had beaten some teachers in Mutare in what could have been a politically-motivated attack.

According to Gonese, the police are refusing to schedule a court date for Saize. He adds that senior police officers at Mutare Central Police Station told him they have received orders from Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, not to do so. Late in the afternoon (local time) of 20 January, Gonese said he was filing an urgent application with the Magistrates Court to order the police to take Saize to court.

Saize remains in police custody at Mutare Central Police Station.