Reports Say Zimbabwe Police to Edit Violence Out of Stories

Zimbabwe’s largest state-owned daily newspaper has been ordered to send violence-related stories to the country’s police for clearance before publication, a private radio station reported on Monday.

Radio VOP quoted The Herald’s news editor Isdore Guvamombe as saying Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena was censoring all violence-related stories before the daily published them for public consumption.

Guvamombe is said to have told stunned media colleagues during a workshop that the ZRP had demanded to see all stories on violence for clearance before publishing them.

“The news editor said this had been done for security reasons, probably explaining why MDC violence reports are never published by the paper,” the radio station said.

The police have been accused by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of bias in the handling of reports on the political violence that accompanied Zimbabwe’s disputed elections in March and June.

The MDC said the police had openly favored the ruling ZANU PF, while ignoring reports of violence against opposition supporters.

The opposition claims that more than 150 of its supporters have been murdered since early April and none of the perpetrators have been arrested.

The police deny the bias allegations.

Source African Press Agency

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