11 March 2009

JOURNALIST RELEASED, ANOTHER STILL IN DETENTION


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The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and other IFEX members welcomed the release of journalist and human rights activist Jestina Mukoko last week after three months in jail, but urge the Zimbabwean government to free another journalist who is still in detention.

Mukoko was abducted on 3 December 2008 from her home in Norton. Initially held incommunicado, she was brought before a court on 24 December and accused of plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.

She was held in a high-security prison in solitary confinement, allegedly tortured while in custody, and denied medical treatment.

Mukoko was freed on payment of US$600 in bail and was forced to relinquish her passport. "It is good to be free but being detained was an ordeal and I must look after my health," she told reporters.

"Mukoko was unjustly held for three months in very disturbing conditions," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said. "We are extremely relieved to know that she is free at last, but her ordeal will not be fully over until the authorities drop the charges against her."

RSF hopes her release, just a few weeks after the formation of a national unity government with the opposition, will be the starting point of a new government attitude of respect for free expression.

Mukoko, a former broadcaster for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and the privately-owned Voice of The People, now heads the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a human rights organisation that has been monitoring recent political violence in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, freelance photographer Shadreck Manyere, who was kidnapped by government agents on 13 December 2008, and later charged with banditry, sabotage and terrorism, for which he faces a prison sentence ranging from 20 years to life, is still in detention, report MISA and RSF. The IFEX members are demanding his immediate release.

Visit these links:
- MISA: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/101249
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=30458
- IFEX Zimbabwe page: http://tinyurl.com/28mvww
(11 March 2009)



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Also from the Communiqué, 11 March 2009

INTERNATIONAL: IPI WORLD CONGRESS TO ADDRESS MEDIA IN TIMES OF ECONOMIC CRISIS 11 March 2009 EGYPT: SECURITY FORCES DETAIN INTERNET ACTIVISTS 11 March 2009 IRAQ: TWO JOURNALISTS KILLED IN SUICIDE BOMBING 11 March 2009 SRI LANKA: IFEX MEMBERS DEMAND RELEASE OF POPULAR TAMIL JOURNALIST 11 March 2009 AFGHANISTAN: JOURNALIST AND FORMER U.S. MILITARY DETAINEE GUNNED DOWN 11 March 2009 TIBET (CHINA): ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF UPRISING, IFEX MEMBERS ASK CHINA TO FREE REPORTERS 11 March 2009 INTERNATIONAL: WOMEN WRITERS SUBJECT TO CENSORSHIP, SMEAR CAMPAIGNS 11 March 2009

Zimbabwe

Foreign newspapers to be banned 6 February 2012 Charges against MMPZ staffers reduced 26 January 2012 Detained MMPZ staff freed on bail; journalist questioned 22 December 2011 Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe personnel denied freedom 13 December 2011 Unlawful detention and harassment of Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe personnel 7 December 2011 See all alerts: Zimbabwe


Southern Africa

TANZANIA: Activists detained over illegal assembly 10 February 2012 MALAWI: New report highlights ongoing press freedom challenges, says MISA 6 February 2012 NAMIBIA: Newspaper faces defamation charges 25 January 2012


 
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