The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) has denounced today the continuous harassment of journalists in Zimbabwe.
According to the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, ZUJ, a FAJ affiliate, unidentified armed men have yesterday June 19th, burgled the house of journalist Mduduzi Mathuthu editor with the newspaper The Chronicle in the eastern city of Bulawayo while the house of another journalist Edmund Kudzayi for The Sunday Mail in Harare the capital city was stormed.
ZUJ reported that Kudzayi’s computer was seized from his office by armed men and was reportedly being questioned at the Harare Central Police station. People claiming to be police officers also went to the office of The Zimbabwe Independent where they asked for directions to the house of the newspaper’s editor, Dumisani Muleya.
FAJ joins its affiliate ZUJ to voice concerns on the continuous harassment of journalists in Zimbabwe.
“We call on authorities in Zimbabwe to guarantee the safety and protection of journalists”, said Mohamed Garba, FAJ President. FAJ and ZUJ call on the government to immediately reveal the reasons for detaining Kudzayi and why Muleya is being hunted.
“It is important that any dispute related to press freedom is not solved using police and other tools to harass journalists but through civilized routes such as the civil one. We condemn the use of fear as a weapon to cow journalists”, said ZUJ Secretary General Foster Dongozi.
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FAJ represents more than 50.000 journalists in 40 countries in Africa