Two Brit journalists trying to cover Zimbabwe's elections were arrested. Fortunately, they had an honest judge.
An excerpt from the BBC story:
The government previously blocked a court order to bail the men |
The magistrate said there was no proof they were working in the country illegally, but they should still face charges of overstaying their visas.
They had pleaded not guilty to covering the elections without accreditation.
Their lawyer maintained the pair were ordinary tourists who "kept a travel diary and took pictures".
Media laws
On Thursday, magistrate Never Diza said: "All in all, the state failed to provide sufficient evidence to show the accused persons have a case to answer."
A few other facts about Zimbabwe from the BBC story:
- The government claims more than 200 journalists were accredited to cover the elections, but others had their applications rejected.
- Dozens of journalists have been arrested, deported or denied entry under Zimbabwe's draconian press laws adopted three years ago
- Foreign journalists are banned from working permanently in Zimbabwe. They can only enter the country for brief periods.
Here is what Reporters sans frontieres says about Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe continued to be by far the worst violator of press freedom in southern Africa in 2003. The authorities closed the only independent daily and forced foreign journalists to leave the country.
Here is RSF's 2004 annual report on Zimbabwe.
Addendum: The two men returned to Britain on April 15, reported BBC Online.