WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-04-04 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
The Zimbabwean authorities have charged two foreign journalists arrested in Harare with breaching the country’s tough media laws by reporting without accreditation, police said Friday.
New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak, 58, and a 45-year-old journalist from Britain, were among four people picked up Thursday by police at a Harare guest house.
“They have both been charged for practising without accreditation but the other two will be released soon after screening,” national police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena told AFP.
“We have so many other foreign journalists who have followed the laid-down procedures and are practising legally and here we have two people who thought they were a law unto themselves,” Bvudzijena said.
| ‘We are making every effort to ascertain his status’ |
There was no information on the identity of the other two journalists detained.
Zimbabwean authorities barred most foreign media from covering last Saturday’s general elections and had warned they would deal severely with journalists who sneaked into the country and were caught operating illegally.
However a number of news organisations, including the BBC, have been filing reports from correspondents operating under cover.
Zimbabwe passed a media law on the eve of the last presidential elections in 2002 which has been invoked to expel foreign correspondents and shut down at least four independent newspapers.
The situation is tense in the capital as Zimbabweans await results from the presidential elections in which President Robert Mugabe faced the toughest challenge to his nearly three-decade rule.
| ‘Journalists and NGOs should be permitted to do their work’ |
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change claims its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential poll outright.
There has still been no official word on the outcome six days after the ballot, although the election commission has been won control of parliament.
Mugabe’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) has indicated it is gearing for a second round run-off and has called a meeting of its politburo on Friday to discuss the election outcome.
New York Times executive editor Bill Keller confirmed Thursday that Bearak, who won a Pulitzer prize in 2002 for his reporting war-torn Afghanistan, had been detained but did not know where he was being held.
“We are making every effort to ascertain his status, to assure that he is safe and being well treated, and to secure his prompt release,” Keller said in a statement.
The United States said it was “troubled” by news of the arrests.
“We are troubled by reports we are hearing on the ground in Zimbabwe,” said National Security Council spokesperson Gordon Johndroe. “Journalists and NGOs should be permitted to do their work.”
A leading US press freedom group responded to the arrests by calling Thursday on the Zimbabwean authorities to immediately release the foreign journalists.
“We are alarmed by reports that foreign journalists have been detained in Harare,” Joel Simon, the executive director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.
“In light of the political situation, it is imperative that all journalists, foreign and domestic, be allowed to work freely. We call on authorities to immediately release all journalists currently being held,” he added.
Zimbabwe has strict rules on media and no independent radio or television stations are authorised to operate.
The country’s only daily newspaper, the Herald, is controlled by the government. – Sapa-AFP
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20080404110503333C412941