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Zimbabwe Cracks Down on Media Freedom
Friday, February 1, 2002
(10:11 AM AEDT)
The Australia Broadcasting Corporation

This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), AAP(International), APTN, Reuters, CNN and the BBC World Service



"I find it almost impossible to comprehend how free and fair elections can be held in Zimbabwe when such laws have been passed."

* Condemnation
* Campaign begins

Zimbabwe's Parliament has approved a law limiting the freedoms of the independent and foreign press ahead of presidential elections in March.

The tough media bill became the third piece of legislation passed this month alone and seen by critics to be aimed at ensuring President Robert Mugabe's re-election in the hotly contested March 9-10 poll.

The bill sailed through without going to the vote as the Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), who had earlier fiercely debated against the bill, did not resist.

Under the law, a new media regulatory commission will award long-term accreditation only to Zimbabwe citizens and permanent residents, while foreign journalists will be allowed to work in the country for "limited periods".

The law also makes it a criminal offence to report on the deliberations of the Cabinet and other government bodies.

The Media Regulatory Commission, to be appointed mainly by the Information Minister, will accredit Zimbabwean journalists and issue licences to all media organisations operating in the southern African country.

Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) has a majority in the 150-member Parliament.
(More: ABC.net.AU News Source)
2002 © The Australia Broadcasting Corporation.

Dan