Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by your government’s continuing harassment of Andrew Meldrum, Zimbabwe correspondent for the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper. Immigration officials ordered him today to leave the country.
New York, May 16, 2003—Andrew Meldrum, Zimbabwe correspondent for the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper, was ordered today by immigration officials in the capital, Harare, to leave the country. Meldrum went to the Department of Immigration today at 10:00 a.m. for a scheduled meeting with officials, where he was informed he had to leave Zimbabwe. Outside the…
New York, May 16, 2003—Zimbabwean immigration officials today deported Andrew Meldrum, Zimbabwe correspondent for the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper, from the country. Officials at Harare Airport forced Meldrum onto a London-bound Air Zimbabwe flight, ignoring a high court order staying the reporter’s deportation and instructing authorities to produce Meldrum for a court hearing on his expulsion.…
New York, May 8, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned for the safety of Andrew Meldrum, Zimbabwe correspondent for the U.K.-based newspaper The Guardian. A group of immigration officers visited the journalist’s home unannounced yesterday evening and demanded to speak with Meldrum, according to his wife.
New York, May 7, 2003—Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court ruled today that a section of the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) that criminalizes “publishing falsehoods” is unconstitutional. Section 80 of AIPPA stipulated that it was an “abuse of journalistic privilege” to publish false information, whether it was intentional or not. Journalists convicted…
Although the Kenya-based East African Standard, one of Africa’s oldest continuously published newspapers, marked its 100th anniversary in November, journalism remains a difficult profession on the continent, with adverse government policies and multifaceted economic woes still undermining the full development of African media.
The U.S. government took aggressive measures in 2002 to shield some of its activities from press scrutiny. These steps not only reduced access for U.S. reporters but had a global ripple effect, with autocratic leaders citing U.S. government actions to justify repressive policies.
Zimbabwean journalists continue to toil under extremely tough conditions, with government lawsuits and physical attacks by backers of the ruling ZANU-PF still regular occurrences. On August 28, unknown assailants blew up the newsroom of Voice of the People, which was founded by former employees of the official Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. The private news outlet has…