New York, June 3, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Zambian President Rupiah Bwezani Banda and his administration to halt the ongoing harassment of the nation’s leading independent newspaper The Post and its award-winning editor Fred M’membe. On Tuesday, a magistrate in the capital, Lusaka, convicted M’membe on a criminal charge of contempt of court and scheduled…
Top Developments• Ruling party supporters behind assaults against journalists.• Government wages politicized prosecutions against The Post. Key Statistic 400: Estimated turnout at a demonstration protesting anti-press attacks. Press freedom deteriorated in the first full year of Rupiah Banda’s presidency. Tensions mounted between Banda’s government and the leading independent daily The Post. Politicized criminal charges were…