Violation/issue: Detained Binga Police in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North province on June 8 arrested and detained Abel Chikomo, Maureen Kademaunga and Abel Kaingidza who are employed by the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) and accused them of holding a public meeting without police clearance. The three together with other 10 members of the MMPZ’s Public Information Rights Forum (PIRF) who are in custody in Binga are expected to appear in court on June 11, 2008. MMPZ co-ordinator Andy Moyse confirmed their arrest together with that of the other 10 local members of the PIRF and said that the meeting in question was not a public meeting but a professional meeting, which did not require notification or clearance with the Police in terms of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). June 11, 2008: Three Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) employees – Abel Chikomo, Maureen Kademaunga and Abel Kaingidza – were on June 11 released without charge. MMPZ co-ordinator Andy Moyse said they were all released and that the state had indicated that it would proceed by way of summons. • ALERT Date: June 23, 2008 Person/institutions: The Zimbabwean Violation/issue: Banned/confiscated Wilf Mbanga, publisher of The Zimbabwean, said the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) refused to release a consignment of 60,000 copies of the weekly independent newspaper. Mbanga said copies of the June 19 edition of the newspapers had been flown into Harare by a commercial carrier for distribution last Thursday. The publisher said the ZIMRA had told the local distributor that the order to impound the newspapers had come from the ruling Zanu-PF party. This comes hard on the heels of the burning of 60,000 copies, as well as a truck, of The Zimbabwean on Sunday newspaper on May 25. This comes at a time when Zimbabwe was preparing for an election run-off, which the opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has pulled out of because of violence and intimidation. • ALERT Date: June 23, 2008 Person: Noel Tichawana Violation/issue: Detained/charged Zimbabwe Police have charged a street vendor for listening to a special news programme on Zimbabwe broadcast by the Voice of America, Zimonline news agency reports. Noel Tichawana was arrested early June 2008 and will appear in court on July 15 to answer to charges of committing criminal nuisance after he was caught listening to the programme, Studio 7, that broadcasts political, economic and general news on Zimbabwe. Studio 7 is a daily news programme of the Voice of America. Tichawana, who is probably the first person to be charged for listening to the Studio 7 programme that is considered hostile by Mugabe’s government, faces up to six months in jail if found guilty. According to court papers, a Zimbabwe army soldier arrested Tichawana after having observed on several occasions the vendor listening to Studio 7 from his radio set that he kept at his vending site. “On several occasions, [the] accused person would play his radio set at high volume attracting a crowed as he would switch it to America’s Studio [7] … informant then arrested the accused and brought him to St Mary’s police station,” reads the charge sheet submitted to court. • ALERT Date: June 27, 2008 Person/institutions: Frank Chikowore and Edgar Mwandiambira So This Is Democracy? 2008 -146- Media Institute of Southern Africa