Beatrice Mtetwa

As guests mingled at the Waldorf-Astoria for the CPJ International Press Freedom Awards, the sound of gunfire echoed from a video screen–a stark reminder in an elegant environment of the dangers faced by the world press. Familiar names like NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, and Jim Willse, editor of New Jersey’s Star-Ledger,…

CPJ’s 2008 International Press Freedom awardees, who were officially announced yesterday at a press conference in Washington, are making news today–including editor Andrew Mwenda, who was concurrently issued an arrest warrant in his home country of Uganda.

Washington, November 20, 2008–On the day Ugandan editor Andrew Mwenda was introduced here as a recipient of a CPJ International Press Freedom Award, police back home summoned the journalist for questioning over his magazine’s hard-hitting political coverage.

New York, November 17, 2008–Authorities should halt harassment of media and human rights lawyer Harrison Nkomo, CPJ said today. Nkomo is awaiting word on whether he will face criminal charges after a client left Zimbabwe in the midst of a case, said Beatrice Mtetwa, co-founder of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

November 2008News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

October 2008News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

Our announcement of the 2008 International Press Freedom Award winners has gotten coverage today, with stories running in the Arab, African, and Asian press. The Philippine-based Pinoy Press has an article about the awardees, and The Zimbabwe Independent reports on the winners but leads with the news of Beatrice Mtetwa winning CPJ’s Burton Benjamin Award. In the Arab press, the…

New York, May 9, 2008—In separate cases today, a magistrate court in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, released from police custody a top newspaper editor and a leading lawyer working in defense of journalists. Both were formally charged, however, according to local sources. Davison Maruziva, editor of Zimbabwe’s leading Sunday newspaper, The Standard, was charged with…

New York, May 8, 2008—Zimbabwean police arrested a top newspaper editor today and released a photographer jailed since Monday, according to local journalists and news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists remains concerned about the well-being of a leading media lawyer following reports of his hospitalization after his arrest on Wednesday. Davison Maruziva, deputy editor…

New York, May 7, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that a leading Zimbabwean lawyer working in defense of journalists was arrested today in the capital, Harare. Harrison Nkomo remained in police custody late today after his arrest this afternoon for allegedly “undermining the authority or insulting the president,” according to his…