Press Statement 29 January 2001

The Freedom of Expression Institute strongly condemns the bombing of the offices of the "Daily News" in Zimbabwe. FXI believes the attack is an act of terrorism which amounts to an assault against freedom of expression in Zimbabwe and the region. ZANU-PF supporters and war veterans have declared war on the "Daily News" over what they called its unpatriotic coverage of issues. For the past two days they have pounced on vendors, confiscated copies of the newspaper and burnt them in front of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation television cameras. The paper's wide-range coverage of corruption and mismanagement allegations against President Robert Mugabe's government is not appreciated by the powers that be.

Although pamphlets purporting to originate from the opposition MDC were found at the scene, this is undoubtedly a tactic to divert attention from the real culprits. Only the day before the blast, government spokesperson Jonathan Moyo told Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation that the state would silence the "Daily News". This, plus the ongoing attacks on the newspaper, including journalist Julius Zava, leaves us in no doubt as to who the real culprits are.

FXI therefore, feels that ZANU-PF supporters should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. It is not surprising that something of this nature has happened in Zimbabwe as the government consistently accuses the media, especially the independent media of being unpatriotic and being puppets of the whites. We strongly believe that freedom of expression as outlined in the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be respected and observed by everyone. People need to be educated on the rights and the duties of the media so that there is an understanding of what the media's role is in society. To accuse the independent media of being unpatriotic is inappropriate as it should serve as an alternative voice to the government-owned media.

FXI also condemns strongly the attack on one of the newspaper's journalists, Julius Zava.

We call on all organisations concerned with press freedom in and outside Zimbabwe to protest the attacks on "Daily News". We would also like to remind the Zimbabwean government to take seriously press freedom as it is the cornerstone of every democracy.

Issued by: Nanagolo Leopeng (Information Officer) @ 011 403 8403/ 082 897 5452 Laura Pollecutt (Executive Director) @ 083604 1073