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ALERT UPDATE - ZIMBABWE

31 March 2003

Journalist recounts ordeal at hands of police, awaits trial date

SOURCE: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Windhoek

**Updates IFEX alerts of 26 and 25 March 2003**

(MISA/IFEX) - Mutare-based freelance reporter Stanley Karombo says police
beat him and searched his home after arresting him on 19 March 2003. The
police also confiscated his mobile phone and tape recorder. Karombo was
arrested under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPPA) for allegedly practicing journalism without accreditation. He was
released on 24 March on Z$5,000 (approx. US$6) bail.

In a 25 March interview with MISA-Zimbabwe, Karombo said that the police had
yet to return his phone and tape recorder.

Karombo told MISA-Zimbabwe that his mobile phone rang while he was in the
office of Manicaland Police Spokesperson Edmund Maingire, where a colleague
from "The Daily Mirror" newspaper was conducting an interview. He went into
the corridor to answer the phone, where another officer overheard him
talking about the stay-away organised by the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC). The officer approached Karombo and demanded to know
whom he was talking to and why he was talking about the stay-away. According
to Karombo, the police officer snatched the phone from him and began talking
to Tererai Karimakwenda of SW Radio Africa in London, England. Karimakwenda
is a Zimbabwean working in the United Kingdom and he had called Karombo to
enquire about the situation in Zimbabwe. The police also searched the phone
numbers recorded on Karombo's phone. When they recognised the telephone
numbers of MDC leaders in Mutare, they accused Karombo of being an MDC
supporter.

Karombo said that the police officer immediately shoved him into Maingire's
office and reported that he had caught Karombo talking about the stay-away t
o the British. The two police officers summoned colleagues from the Law and
Order Section. They began assaulting Karombo and questioning him about why
he was talking to people who were "selling" their country and whose station
(SW Radio Africa) was banned in Zimbabwe. They arrested Karombo and took him
to his home for a search. According to Karombo, the police even searched the
garbage bin and found some old stories he had written. They demanded that he
produce his accreditation card. When he informed them that he was not
accredited and currently not doing any media work, he was further assaulted.

According to Karombo, no one knew where he was while this was going on, and
his colleague from "The Daily Mirror" was told to leave the police station.
Karombo also informed MISA-Zimbabwe that he was denied access to his lawyer.
The police told the lawyer, who went looking for Karombo the day of his
arrest, that they were not aware of Karombo's arrest or case. The police
only admitted to arresting Karombo the following day, 20 March.

Karombo informed MISA-Zimbabwe that his trial date has been set for 30
April. He is currently on bail and is not allowed to leave Mutare, as a
condition of his bail. According to Karombo, he was not seriously injured in
the beatings.

The MISA-Zimbabwe administered Media Defence Fund will assist with legal
fees in his case.

BACKGROUND:
On 18 and 19 March, the opposition MDC coordinated a stay-away in the two
main cities of Harare and Bulawayo. The stay-away was apparently observed by
the vast majority of workers and businesses. The MDC has since given the
government a 31 March deadline to meet certain demands or face "an
escalation of protests."

For further information, contact Zoe Titus or Kaitira Kandjii, Regional
Information Coordinator, MISA, Street Address: 21 Johann Albrecht Street,
Mailing Address; Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232975,
fax: +264 61 248016, e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected],
Internet: http://www.misa.org/

The information contained in this alert update is the sole responsibility of
MISA. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
MISA.
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