however, declined to prosecute saying the state did not have sufficient evidence to warrant prosecution. Freelance photojournalist, Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, in early August 2008 was forced to temporarily relocate to South Africa with his family after being assaulted by the police and having his car confiscated. Mukwazhi said the police accused him of possessing an ‘improperly registered vehicle.’ Mukwazhi had told MISA-Zimbabwe a few days after the assault that the police accused him of having travelled and covered the opposition MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, in the run up to the March 29 presidential elections. His maid was also beaten by the police when they broke into his house. Mukwazhi informed MISA-Zimbabwe before he left the country that some plain clothes police officers came to his house on 29 July 2008 around 0530hrs, knocked down the main door and assaulted him and his maid before taking him to Southerton Police station where he was released after a couple of hours without charge. His car was confiscated by the police. The vehicle has since been released. He told MISA-Zimbabwe he was concerned about his safety and that of his family and that he had seen his car being driven around the city centre by unknown persons. The tenacious photojournalist had endured similar assaults in the past at the hands of the police. In March 2007 his laptop and cameras were destroyed by the police while he was covering a national day of prayer called for under the auspices of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. His vehicle was also confiscated during that time. He was severely beaten and had to seek medical attention. Media and Government relations On 12 December 2008 The Secretary for Information and Publicity George Charamba threatened to ban accredited foreign bureaux or local reporters working for foreign news organisations accusing them of embarking on a propaganda assault on Zimbabwe. In an interview during the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation main television news broadcast, Charamba said the foreign bureaux accredited in Zimbabwe had quoted President Robert Mugabe out of context following his remarks that the country had “arrested” the cholera outbreak. He said Zimbabwe had no need to accredit the foreign news agencies as required under the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). The threat to deal with the foreign news organisations was given in greater detail the next day under the column: The Other Side with Nathaniel Manheru, published every Saturday by the state-controlled national daily, The Herald5. The Permanent Secretary is widely believed to be the author of the column. Reuters, AFP, BBC, AP, France 24 International and Al Jazeera were singled as undermining their bureaux in Zimbabwe and “reducing local reporters to mere runners, mere providers of raw copy which they then rewrite to suit their nations’ agendas These assaults, arrests, harassment and threats against journalists demonstrates the government’s lack of commitment to the various charters and conventions that it has ratified which guarantee freedom of expression, access to information and freedom of the media, even at this crucial political moment for Zimbabwe. 5 The Saturday Herald, December 13 2008. 6