Meldrum: faces jail sentence
The Guardian’s Zimbabwe correspondent, Andrew Meldrum, has been arrested and faces up to two years in prison as the Government clamps down on the media.
He is the seventh journalist to be arrested under strict media laws enforced in the past six weeks. Two of Zimbabwe’s The Daily News reporters, Lloyd Mudiwa and Collin Chiwanza, were arrested on Tuesday at the newspaper offices. They also face imprisonment for "abusing journalistic privilege by publishing falsehoods".
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Meldrum’s name has been rep-
eatedly mentioned by President Robert Mugabe’s Government during its criticism of the British media.
Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said: "Andrew Meldrum is a highly experienced and well-established journalist who has made his home in Zimbabwe for the past 22 years.
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"We believe that he has been arrested under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which could mean he faces up to two years in prison. It is outrageous that he should be the subject of criminal charges for doing the job of a reporter and we call on the Zimbabwean Government to release him immediately and to drop charges against him and his colleagues on The Daily News."
by Mary Stevens
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