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ZANU PF youths harass journalist over alleged Studio 7 links
Regerai Marwezu, ZimOnline
August 25, 2007

http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=1904

MASVINGO - Ruling ZANU PF youths on Wednesday abducted and held captive a Zimbabwean journalist for more than six hours in Gutu district in the southern province of Masvingo after they accused him of working for a US-based anti-government radio station.

Godfrey Mutimba, a correspondent for the weekly Standard newspaper, was in Gutu to investigate allegations that ZANU PF youths were beating up villagers who had attended a memorial service for the late opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) national chairman Isaac Matongo.

Matongo's memorial service was held at his rural home in Gutu about two weeks ago.

The ZANU PF youths pounced on Mutimba and detained him for close to six hours after they accused him of working for the Voice of America's Studio 7, a radio station run by exiled Zimbabwean journalists.

The youths threatened to beat up Mutimba whom they accused of churning out anti-government propaganda at the radio station. He was only released after senior ZANU PF officials in the area ordered his release.

"I had gone to Gutu to investigate allegations that some villagers were being victimized for attending Matongo's memorial service. But before I could complete my work, a group of ZANU PF youths abducted me and threatened to beat me up.

"They accused me of working for Studio 7. But I told them I was from the Standard newspaper. Even when I showed them my Press (identification) card, they refused to listen and continued harassing me," said Mutimba.

Attacks and harassment of journalists by ZANU PF supporters are common in Zimbabwe ahead of election times. Several journalists have been arrested and beaten up in the line of duty over the past four years.

For example, last month, the wife of Zimbabwe army commander Jocelyn Chiwenga, beat up award-winning photographer Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi who was covering a tour of supermarkets by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Zimbabwean government, that has shut down four privately-run newspapers and arrested over a hundred journalists over the past four years, accuses foreign-based media of pushing a "regime change" agenda in the country.

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