Zim reporter arrested over second-hand clothes story
A reporter in Zimbabwe will appear in a Magistrates Court on Wednesday for reporting that first lady Grace Mugabe donated used clothes and underwear, to ZANU-PF supporters.
Newsday journalist Kenneth Nyangani is charged with criminal nuisance for reporting on the alleged donation of second hand underwear and clothes by the first lady and officials from ZANU-PF, to the party’s supporters in Mutare.
Amnesty International Southern Africa says Zimbabwean journalists should not be criminalized for simply doing their work.
"Kenneth Nyangani must be released immediately and unconditionally and all charges against him dropped," says the organisation's Robert Shivambu.
Shivambu says Nyangani's arrest is a deliberate tactic to harass and intimidate him and other journalists in order to deter them from doing their work.
"The intention is to send a chilling message to journalists and media workers that they must self-censor rather than expose truths," he says.
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