correspondents Violation: Bombed (raided) On February 14 2005, police raided the offices of Harare-based foreign correspondents Jan Raath, Angus Shaw and Brian Latham, accusing them of spying and working without accreditation. The three were reported to have skipped the country following the raids. However, Raath and Shaw are still in Zimbabwe from where they continue to file their stories. ALERT Date: January 18, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Frank Chikowore Violation: Detained On January 18 2005, freelance journalist Frank Chikowore was arrested while covering a demonstration by the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), a militant women’s pressure group. Chikowore was released without charges after being detained at Harare Central Police Station. ALERT Date: January 10, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Vincent Kahiya, Dumisani Muleya, Iden Wetherell and Itai Dzamara Violation: Victory On January 10 2005, Zimbabwe Independent journalists Vincent Kahiya, Dumisani Muleya, Iden Wetherell and Itai Dzamara were removed from remand after the State failed to set their trial date. The four journalists had been on remand for almost a year on charges of criminally defaming President Robert Mugabe, following the paper’s publication of a story headlined: ‘Mugabe Grabs Plane For Far East Holiday’. ALERT Date: January 07, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Frank Chikowore Violation: Legislation On January 7 2005, President Robert Mugabe signed the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (AIPPA) Amendment Bill into law. Under the Amendment Act is now an offence for unaccredited or suspended journalists to practice without accreditation. Journalists caught on the wrong side of the law now risk a twoyear jail term. ALERT Date: January 05, 2005 Persons/Institutions: Weekly Times Violation: Threatened On January 5 2005, the Media and Information Commission (MIC) threatened to close the Weekly Times for allegedly misleading the Commission on the thrust of its editorial policy. So This Is Democracy? 2005 -168- Media Institute of Southern Africa