Journalist-bashing cop must face the music

On Thursday, some of our staffers spent valuable productive time trying to free journalists Obey Manayiti, Abigail Matsikidze and Shepherd Tozvireva and driver Ralph Phiri, who had been arrested by clearly rogue police officers.

Manayiti, for good measure, was assaulted with fists — and he suffered a bruised lip and swollen cheek — by a police officer, who clearly does not have a clue what his job is, what human rights are and what freedom of expression is.

The quartet’s “crime” was that they had been seen spotted taking pictures of some crowd trouble in the Harare central business district and it does not need a lawyer or a police officer to point out that this is not illegal.

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