HARARE (AFP) — Three South Africans have each been jailed for six months by a court in Zimbabwe after being convicted of possessing broadcast equipment without authorisation, a state newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Bernet Hasani, Resemate Chauke and Simon Maodi were handed the jail terms at a court in the southern city of Bulawayo on Monday, the Chronicle newspaper reported.
The three were arrested last week after being pulled over at a roadblock where they were alleged to have been found in possession of equipment bearing the logo of Britain's Sky News channel.
"This country is not a banana republic. It has laws which must be observed and respected by both its citizens and foreigners," presiding magistrate John Masimba was quoted as saying in the Bulawayo-based daily.
Zimbabwe authorities barred most foreign news organisations from covering joint presidential and parliamentary elections on March 29 and had warned they would deal severely with journalists who sneak into the country.
However, a number of news organisations, including Sky News, filed reports from Zimbabwe using undercover journalists.
"The country would be sending a wrong signal if it treats leniently persons who sneak into the country and commit offences and are caught on their way out," added Masimba.
"It should be clear to everyone who allows themselves to be used in the commission of an offence under the pretext of being hired that he or she should be equally prepared to face the consequences."
Sky deplored the sentences and announced plans to appeal on the trio's behalf.
"We deplore the harsh sentence given to the three South African drivers. We will be appealing and hope that the Zimbabwean justice system fully reappraises its decision," the broadcaster said in a statement to AFP.
The jail terms are believed to be the first to be handed down since the elections for breaches of media laws.
New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak and British freelancer Stephen Bevan were both arrested in the aftermath of the election and accused of reporting without accreditation, but they were later released.
Another journalist, The Times of London's Africa correspondent Jonathan Clayton, was detained on arrival at Bulawayo airport and held on remand in prison for eight days before being deported to South Africa.
The Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) feared prison sentences would deter reporters in the approach to a June 27 run-off presidential election between the incumbent Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
"The ruling does not bode well for freedom of expression in Zimbabwe," MISA director Takura Zhangazha told AFP.
"This ruling could actually mean that no one will be willing to tell news as it is without fear or favour, especially as we approach the presidential run-off."
Mugabe's government passed a law on the eve of the last presidential election in 2002 which has been invoked to expel foreign correspondents and shut down at least four independent newspapers.
A number of Zimbabwean journalists have also been arrested since the elections, including the editor of the country's only independent Sunday newspaper who was detained over an opinion piece by prominent opposition politician Arthur Mutambara who himself appeared in court on Tuesday.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
