State of the media in Southern Africa - 2003 • DATE: June 2 and 3, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Shorai Katiwa, Martin Chimenya, John Masuku VIOLATIONS: Bombed (raided), detained, censored, beaten O n June 2 2003, two journalists from the Voice of the People Communications Trust (VOP) were detained, interrogated, beaten and had their mobile phones and recorders confiscated by ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) youths and war veterans. In a related incident, the home of VOP Coordinator John Masuku was searched and VOP administrative files and a computer used in programme production were confiscated. The journalists were taken to Borrowdale police station for further interrogation. From Borrowdale, they were taken to Zanu-PF headquarters in the Harare city centre, where they were beaten and further interrogated. On June 3, Masuku, Katiwa and Chimenya returned to the Central police station in the company of their lawyer, Jacob Mafume. The police informed them that they had not found anything suspicious in the computer or the files. These were immediately returned to them. However, the police said they had been unable to recover their mobile phones and minidisks and advised them to report the items as stolen. Masuku confirmed that they have since filed a report with police. • DATE: June 6, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Edwina Spicer VIOLATIONS: Beaten, bombed (raided), censored A t midnight on June 6 2003, eight men wearing police uniforms and driving four police cars raided the home of film and documentary producer Edwina Spicer in the capital, Harare. They took away video cameras, recording equipment, a fax machine and Z$50,000 (approx. US$62), an undisclosed source told MISA Zimbabwe. Spicer and her family were away on holiday in England at the time of the raid. The men, who said they were police officers, beat the gardener, domestic worker and guards at Spicer’s home. The gardener received treatment for a dislocated bone at the Avenues Clinic in Harare. The men said they were looking for guns. • DATE: June 11, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Francis Mdlongwa VIOLATIONS: Charged, legislation O n June 11 2003, Francis Mdlongwa, editor-in-chief of the Associated Newspapers of Zim babwe Group (ANZ), was charged with publishing a false advertisement when he was still in the employment of the Financial Gazette newspaper in 2002. He was charged under Section 15 (1a) or, alternatively, Section 16 (2a) of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). • DATE: June 11, 2003 PERSONS/INSTITUTIONS: Andrew Meldrum, Dolores Cortes Meldrum VIOLATIONS: Expelled, threatened (update) I n what can be described as the continued victimisation of the family of Andrew Meldrum, the deported Zimbabwe correspondent for the United Kingdom-based newspaper The Guardian, his wife Dolores Cortes Meldrum has fled Zimbabwe after being ordered to report to the Immigration Department. Dolores Cortes Meldrum, whose husband was illegally expelled from Zimbabwe in May 2003, fled the country on June 11, fearing she would face the same fate as her husband. She was due to arrive in London on June 12. So This Is Democracy? 2003 122 Media Institute of Southern Africa