T here were a number of violations on freedom of information in Zambia in 2005. On June 15 2005 in Lusaka, ruling Movement for Multi-Party supporters attempted to disrupt sales of The Post, a privately owned newspaper, attacking the newspapers’ vendors both at the printing plant in the industrial area and outside the Times of Zambia offices in the city centre. The cadres, armed with machetes, ambushed the vendors between 05h00 and 06h00 and grabbed about 2 500 copies of that day’s edition of The Post, which was headlined ‘Levy u-turns on Bulaya’s nolle’. This was in reference to a dramatic decision by the state to re-institute criminal proceedings against former Ministry of Health permanent secretary Dr Kawisha Bulaya who was alleged to have made the government lose billions of Kwacha through the purchase of Bulgarian anti-retroviral drugs, which were of questionable quality. On September 15 2005, editor of the Monitor newspaper Whitney Mulobela received a letter from the Ministry of Defence requesting a meeting with him over an article published in the August 12 – 15 edition of the bi-weekly tabloid entitled ‘Mwanawasa places security wings on higher alert’. The article quoted an unnamed Zambia Air Force officer saying security wings had been alerted following the release from jail of an opposition party president, Micheal Sata. Police intimidation On April 7 2005 police in Zambia’s Nakondes district beat up Zambia Information Service reporter Jonathan Mukuka, forcing him to flee into neighbouring Tanzania for a week. This followed a story in which Mukuka reported in the Daily Mail that the Nakonde District Commissioner had advised residents of the town not to take the law into their own hands by beating to death people accused of practicing witchcraft. This was after Nakonde residents complained about police releasing murder suspects from police custody without charging them. The residents accused the police of corruption. On June 22 2005 police in Lusaka questioned Anthony Mukwita, a Radio Phoenix ‘Let the People Talk’ programme host, over a fax from an anonymous caller, which he had read on the June 10 2005 edition of the programme. The fax accused government of condoning corruption and warned that the country might slip into anarchy as a result. The issue under discussion was that of the nolle prosequi (a legal Latin term meaning ‘unwilling to pursue’) entered by the state on May 17 2005 in favour of former permanent secretary of health Dr Kawisha Bulaya, who was being prosecuted for alleged abuse of office involving 3 billion Kwacha (US$640 000). These funds were meant to purchase anti-retroviral drugs for the government from a Bulgarian company which he allegedly had interests in. The nolle prosequi resulted in Bulaya’s discharge from court, a move that brought about sharp criticism for the media. On December 20 four journalists – Radio Phoenix reporter Kangwa Mulenga, The Post senior reporter Brighton Phiri, Radio Q-FM reporter Mutuna Chanda and Times of Zambia Chief Photographer Eddie Mwanaleza – were beaten and later charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of peace. The journalists were arrested after attempting to catch a glimpse of 68 people who were being held at a Lusaka police station for trying to demonstrate against the government’s position on the time-frame for the adoption of the republican constitution. Defamation There was one major defamation case this year. This involved The Post’s editor-in-chief Fred Mmembe who was arrested and charged with defaming the President on November 9 2005. Mmembe was alleged to have published an article in the November 7 2005 edition of The Post So This Is Democracy? 2005 -128- Media Institute of Southern Africa