initially released by the police into the custody of their lawyers at 23h00 on March 13, and ordered to appear for initial remand at Harare Magistrate Court at 9h00 the next day. However, when they arrived at the magistrates courts on March 14, law officers from the Attorney General’s Office and the police were not in attendance. Having waited for an hour for them to arrive, defence lawyers then made a decision that if the state was still interested in pursuing the matter, they would have to do so by way of summons. In view of that turn of events arising from the absence of the prosecutors, the defence lawyers then advised their clients to go home. The decision will hopefully bring to an end the circus which began with the arrest of the journalists and political leaders on March 11, 2007, which saw the police defying at least three High Court orders allowing lawyers and medical practitioners access to the brutally assaulted detainees as well as to bring the accused persons to the High Court by 8h00 on 13 March, in the event of the first two orders having been defied. Mukwazhi, a freelance photojournalist and Musiyu, who is a freelance film producer, were arrested together with Tsvangirai, National Constitutional Assembly Chairperson Lovemore Madhuku, MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti, Authur Mutambara, leader of the other MDC faction, legislator Job Sikhala, and Grace Kwinje, William Bango and Nelson Chamisa of the Tsvangirai faction. Madhuku spotted a head bandage and his left arm was in a sling when they appeared in court on March 13, and he was subsequently referred to a hospital for treatment. The MDC leader Tsvangirai is in the intensive care unit and is believed to have fractured his skull following the assaults by the police. March 12, 2007: the High Court ordered the police to allow lawyers access to their clients, including two detained journalists, as well as opposition leaders and human rights activists. Photojournalist Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and television producer Tendai Musiyu, both employed with Associated Press (AP), are among those being detained at various police stations in Harare, together with opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Authur Mutambara. Mukwazhi’s whereabouts remain unknown following his arrest on March 11, 2007, at Machipisa shopping complex, when police disrupted a national prayer meeting that had been scheduled for Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield under the auspices of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. • ALERT Date: March 12, 2007 Persons: Sunsleey Chamunorwa Violation: Threatened On March 12 2007, firebrand journalist Sunsley Chamunorwa, renowned for his hard-hitting editorials and commentaries at the helm of the weekly “Financial Gazette”, was suspended over a story reportedly involving the business interests of a powerful ruling Zanu-PF official. Chamunorwa was suspended by Chief Executive Officer Jacob Chisese following publication of a story linking top Zanu officials - among them, the Governor for Mashonaland East Province, Ray Kaukonde - to lucrative security contracts at Harare International Airport. Although details of the nature of the suspension letter handed to Chamunorwa were still sketchy, journalists at the weekly financial publication believed to be owned by Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono, confirmed to MISA-Zimbabwe that their editor had bade them farewell following a meeting on March 13, 2007, with the company’s management. Chisese announced Chamunorwa’s suspension - pending a final decision by the company’s board - when he addressed members of staff, saying the decision had been made in light of the lawsuits that the weekly is facing. In its edition of 8 to 14 March 2007, the “Financial Gazette” led with a story alleging that three security companies with links to Zanu-PF had their contracts cancelled after the Joint Operations Command, which consists of top security officials, had raised concern that the firms could have been used by senior politicians to facilitate the smuggling of minerals through Harare International Airport. So This Is Democracy? 2007 -135- Media Institute of Southern Africa