Editor Nyarota arrested as crackdown on media continues
Nyarota, who is being charged under a section of the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, denied the charge in a statement recorded by the police.
In their continuing crackdown on independent media journalists, the police in Harare yesterday arrested Geoff Nyarota, the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily News, in connection with a story published last month in which a man alleged that his wife had been beheaded in Magunje. Nyarota’s lawyer, Lawrence Chibwe of Stumbles and Rowe, said the editor was picked up early yesterday morning and taken to Harare Central police station where the police charged him before releasing him in the afternoon. Nyarota, who is being charged under a section of the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, denied the charge in a statement recorded by the police. The section under which Nyarota is being charged prohibits the publication of what it terms “falsehoods” and, if convicted, he could face a prison term not exceeding two years or a fine of up to $100 000. The police indicated to Nyarota they would proceed by way of summons if they wished to prosecute him.
This is the fifth arrest in less than a month involving journalists from the privately-owned Press in the country. On 30 April, two Daily News staffers, Lloyd Mudiwa and Collin Chiwanza, were arrested and detained for two nights at the Harare Central police station over the same story. Andrew Meldrum, a correspondent for the British Guardian, was arrested on 1 May and detained overnight over the same report. Three days later, the police arrested Daily News columnist, Pius Wakatama, in connection with the same story which he alluded to in his column. On Thursday last week, the Editor of The Standard, Bornwell Chakaodza, and two of his staffers, Farai Mutsaka and Fungayi Kanyuchi, were detained overnight and subsequently charged under the same law which journalists allege virtually criminalises their profession. The State is alleging that The Standard published falsehoods about the acquisition of anti-riot gear by the government and of “sex-for-freedom” deals between the police and Harare prostitutes soliciting in the streets.