IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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PRESS RELEASE - ZIMBABWE

13 November 2002

CPJ mourns death of award-winning journalist

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

ZIMBABWE: CPJ mourns death of award-winning journalist

New York, November 13, 2002-The board of directors and staff of the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) are saddened by the death of
Zimbabwean journalist Mark Chavunduka.

Chavunduka, 37, died on November 11 at West End Hospital in Zimbabwe's
capital, Harare, according to his relatives. The cause of death is unknown,
but friends and family said he had been in poor health for a long time and
was checked into the hospital for severe dehydration.

An award-winning former editor of the private Standard weekly, Chavunduka
became a symbol of resistance among Zimbabwe's beleaguered independent
journalists after he and his chief reporter, Ray Choto, were arrested in
December 1999 and savagely tortured by the Zimbabwean military for writing
about an alleged coup plot against President Robert Mugabe. Their detention
lasted several days despite court orders for their release and a flurry of
protests from around the world.

After his release, Chavunduka received treatment for posttraumatic stress
disorder in both Britain and the United States. According to the BBC,
Chavunduka often complained of nightmares following the beatings and
electric shocks he received during his detention.

Chavunduka was a 2000-2001 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

"He was a great journalist and he died at a time when great journalists are
needed in Zimbabwe," said Choto from his home in the Bay area of California.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information about press
conditions in Zimbabwe, visit www.cpj.org [2].

For further information, contact Yves Sorokobi (ext. 112) at CPJ, 330
Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1 212
465 9568, e-mail: [email protected] [3], Internet: http://www.cpj.org/ [4]

The information contained in this press release is the sole responsibility
of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
CPJ.
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