TWO Sky News journalists, Garwen McLuckie and Alex Crawford, were yesterday deported by the government on allegations of covering #This Flag campaigner, Evan Mawarire’s court proceedings on Wednesday without accreditation.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Although Immigration Department officials said they were not in a position to give details, NewsDay is reliably informed that the two journalists were officially in the country for other business other than coverage of Mawarire’s court case.
The two journalists from the British broadcaster are based in South Africa.
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services permanent secretary, George Charamba said the two were not lawfully in the country. “We didn’t accredit them and that means they were not lawfully in the country,” he said.
Foreign journalists are required to get accreditation from the ministry before coming to Zimbabwe for news coverage.
Zimbabwean authorities have had a frosty relationship with Western-based media organisations, which have helped expose the gross violation of human rights in the country.
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Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Zimbabwe chapter director, Nhlanhla Ngwenya described the deportation, as an act of cowardice on the part of Zimbabwe.
Misa said the journalists were raided at a Harare lodge on Wednesday night and detained at Harare International Airport overnight before being deported yesterday.
“It’s clearly indicative of a government that is afraid of the truth. It is a government that wants to pretend as if everything is normal and block the world to see the reality on the ground,” he said.
“However, this will not work in this digital era. Stifling the free flow of information using archaic and dictatorial means will not stop the true story of Zimbabwe trickling into the global arena.
“As we speak, the world is aware of Zimbabweans’ expression of anger that was met with police brutality and this information is all over the internet and the mainstream international media. It is best for authorities to take advantage of international journalists to give their side of the story.”
