long to comply with this law as the Act clearly states that regulations to this effect will be issued within two months of the commencement of this Act. What remains now is the publication of a statutory instrument that will advise when the law will become operational. June 13, 2007: Zimbabwe’s House of Assembly passed the controversial Interception of Communications Bill without amendments despite opposition to some of its provisions by opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislators. • ALERT Date: August 1, 2007 Persons: Tsvangirai Mukwazhi Violation: Beaten On August 1 2007, the wife of Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Constantine Chiwenga, Jocelyn Chiwenga, assaulted freelance photojournalist Tsvangirai Mukwazhi at Makro Wholesalers in Harare. Mukwazhi informed MISA-Zimbabwe that he was slapped several times by the army general’s wife after covering a visit to the retail outlet by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and other senior members of his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Tsvangirai and his colleagues had just left the wholesaler when Chiwenga spotted and descended on the photojournalist, who was there to cover the visit. The MDC leader and his delegation had apparently visited the wholesaler to assess the impact of government-sanctioned price slashes on commodities. Chiwenga hurled all sorts of insults at Mukwazhi, accusing him of “advancing the agenda of Western imperialists”. Other journalists who were covering the opposition leader’s tour managed to sneak out of the wholesaler ahead of Mukwazhi when Chiwenga ordered the store’s security guards to lock the doors so that she could deal with the “sell-outs”. BACKGROUND: In 2003, Chiwenga assaulted Gugulethu Moyo, the former Corporate Affairs Director of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of the banned “Daily News” and “Daily News on Sunday”, at Glen View Police Station. Moyo had driven to the police station to secure the release of “Daily News” photographer Philemon Bulawayo who was being held at the police station when she encountered the army commander’s fury. • ALERT Date: July 12, 2007 Persons: Boldwin Hungwe Violation: Detained On July 12 2007, police in Harare arrested The Standard photojournalist Boldwin Hungwe while he was taking pictures of events as people scrambled for goods at South African owned Makro shop after an invasion by the price control police. The editor of the newspaper, Davison Maruziva, told MISA-Zimbabwe that Hungwe was arrested at the shop in the afternoon while on duty by two police officers who also seized his camera. Maruziva informed MISA-Zimbabwe that the taking of photos incensed the police as they battled to contain a scramble at the shop, resulting in police dogs being unleashed on prospective customers. Tens of people were injured in the process, including soldiers and police officers who were in a separate queue from that of the general public. Maruziva informed MISA-Zimbabwe that he rushed to Makro and tried to negotiate the release of Hungwe without success. Hungwe was eventually taken and detained at the Harare central police station for an hour before being released on the instructions of police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka. His camera was later returned. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -132- Media Institute of Southern Africa