Police threats spark backlash

HUMAN rights defenders and political parties yesterday said police threats on private media journalists covering a job cuts demonstration in Harare on Saturday had exposed the State’s hidden hand in the disappearance of journalist-cum-activist Itai Dzamara in March this year.

Some rogue police officers over the weekend briefly detained three journalists — Obey Manayiti (NewsDay), AFP correspondent Reagan Mashavave and freelance ANN7 TV correspondent Pindai Dube — and threatened them with disappearance for covering the event.

The newsmen, who were covering the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)-led protests against job losses in Harare, were bundled into a police truck and detained for a while at Harare Central Police Station where one of the officers said they would “go the Dzamara way”.

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