"STANDARD" EDITOR SETS NEW ARREST RECORD

UNCLAS HARARE 001258 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/PD (COX AND ROBERTSON),AF/S (KRAFT AND SCHLACHTER) NSC FOR JANDAYI FRAZER LONDON FOR GURNEY PARIS FOR NEARY NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL ZI SUBJECT: "STANDARD" EDITOR SETS NEW ARREST RECORD ¶1. BORNWELL CHAKAODZA, EDITOR OF THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY "STANDARD" WAS ARRESTED AGAIN ON MAY 23, SETTING A NEW ZIMBABWEAN RECORD FOR THE NUMBER OF TIMES AN EDITOR HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN ONE WEEK. CHAKAODZA WAS ALSO ARRESTED ON MAY 22 AND MAY 16. WHILE OTHER EDITORS MAY BOAST A HIGHER NUMBER OF LIFETIME ARRESTS (BY OUR RECKONING "DAILY NEWS" EDITOR GEOFF NYAROTA LEADS THAT RACE WITH 6 ARRESTS IN THE LAST TWO YEARS),NO ONE COMES CLOSE TO CHAKAODZA'S RECORD- SETTING THREE TIMES IN ONE WEEK. ¶2. THE MAY 23 ARREST OF CHAKAODZA AND ONE OF HIS REPORTERS, FARAI MUTSAKA, WAS FOR "PUBLISHING FALSEHOODS," A VIOLATION OF THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT (AIPPA). THE MAY 23 ARREST WAS SPARKED BY AN ARTICLE IN THE MAY 12 EDITION OF THE "STANDARD" THAT PREDICTED STAFFING CHANGES AT THE GOVERNMENT-OWNED "ZIMPAPERS" PUBLISHING CONMPANY. THE ARREST FOLLOWED THE NOW-FAMILIAR NORM: POLICE ARRIVE AT THE "STANDARD'S" OFFICES, TAKE THE JOURNALISTS INTO CUSTODY AND DELIVER THEM TO POLICE CENTRAL HQ IN HARARE. AT THE POLICE STATION, THE JOURNALISTS SPEND TWO OR THREE HOURS ANSWERING A POLICE INSPECTOR'S QUESTIONS ABOUT DIFFERENT STORIES IN VARIOUS EDITIONS OF THE NEWSPAPER. EVENTUALLY, THE POLICE CHARGE THE JOURNALISTS FOR A SPECIFIC STORY, COLLECT THE BAIL, AND LET THEM GO. THUS FAR, THE JOURNALISTS HAVE NOT BEEN MISTREATED. ¶3. THE HARASSMENT OF THE "STANDARD" OVER THE LAST WEEK HAS BEEN EXPENSIVE IN TERMS OF TIME LOST IN THE NEWSROOM, LEGAL FEES AND BAIL. THE ARRESTS, HOWEVER, SEEM TO HAVE STRENGTHENED THE RESOLVE OF CHAKAODZA, HIS REPORTERS AND THEIR PUBLISHER TO CONTINUE THEIR WORK. SULLIVAN