SECTOR 1 Another journalist asked the subject of his article for comment on the information he had collected. Even before the story had been written he was ‘visited’ by police officers who wanted to question him. Ordinary citizens are also arrested or intimidated for incongruous reasons. In February 2011, a man from Bulawayo was arrested for a Facebook comment on the uprising in Egypt: “What happened in Egypt is sending shockwaves to all dictators around the world. No weapon but unity of purpose. Worth emulating, hey.” He was arrested and charged but the case was thrown out of court for lack of evidence. In December 2011, two employees and a member of the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) were arrested and charged with contravening Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for ‘participating in a gathering without seeking authority from the regulating authority’ and also for allegedly contravening the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act by ‘distributing material that is likely to provoke a breach of peace.’ Their case was eventually dismissed. During this tumultuous period, the MMPZ lost several followers of its statements on the internet. People called in or emailed and asked to be taken off the mailing lists. During a conference on community broadcasting held by Radio Dialogue in March 2012, participants decided to take to the streets to demand the allocation of broadcasting licences, even though an earlier request to the police for permission to hold such a demonstration had been denied. Within minutes of the participants expressing the need to march there was a heavy police presence outside the workshop venue and participants abandoned the protest. The quick police reaction pointed to the presence of a mole in the workshop. In August 2010 a special government order was issued to formally prohibit the exhibition of artist Owen Maseko at the National Gallery of Bulawayo. His work paintings, graffiti and 3D installations - focused on Gukurahundi, the uprising in the early 1980s in Matabeleland where thousands of lives were lost. Fear and intimidation are not confined to the discussion of political issues but extend to any issue considered sensitive in Zimbabwe. “You don’t necessarily have to challenge a person in a certain powerful position. As long as the subject is contentious then along comes the intimidation and fear.” On the other hand, there are a plethora of political parties and civil society organisations working in the country and private newspapers with articles critical of the government are sold on the streets - all of these indications that there are windows of opportunity for freedom of expression. The threat to freedom of expression is however, severe especially prior to elections when the polarisation of Zimbabwean society becomes very visible. People aligned to a certain party or civic society organisation will refuse to show any 14 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZIMBABWE 2012