British Journalist held in Zimbabwe jail
A national newspaper reporter was being held in prison in Zimbabwe today after being charged under newly re-elected President Mugabe’s security law.
Peta Thornycroft of The Daily Telegraph was charged with ‘‘publishing false statements likely to be prejudicial to state security’’ and ‘‘incitement to public violence’’.
Mrs Thornycroft is the first journalist to be charged under the notorious public order and security act since the election, widely condemned as corrupt.
The 57-year-old widow who has a son, daughter and granddaughter has been The Daily Telegraph’s Harare correspondent since last July. She is a Zimbabwean citizen although she was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire.
Her arrest, in Chimanimani, 300 miles east of Harare, is being seen as a sign of Mr Mugabe’s growing paranoia and indifference to international opinion.
She was arrested within two hours of arriving in the town to investigate reports of widespread political violence and a campaign of retribution against the opposition.
The Telegraph reports that Mrs Thornycroft was taken from a cafe to the police station where she was held for about five hours without any charges being laid.
Later she was told she would be charged with the two offences, which carry a possible two-year prison sentence, and taken to the cells.
The public order and security act, passed in January, has been condemned as repressive.
