Police grabbed Zimbabwe Independent editor Faith Zaba on Tuesday after she wrote a funny piece about the country's leaders. Officers charged her with making the president look bad through her weekly newspaper column. The piece made fun of how Zimbabwe runs the Southern African Development Community group. Zaba called the regional organization a club for bad rulers. Her arrest came just hours after readers saw the critical writing.
Trevor Ncube owns the company that prints the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper. He said cops planned to keep Zaba locked up overnight at Harare Central Police Station. The editor was already sick and needed to stay home resting when officers came for her. Ncube worried that jail time would make her health problems much worse. He posted messages online saying that writing news stories should never be treated as a crime.
Groups that protect journalists often complain about Zimbabwe's harsh laws. The government uses special rules that make it illegal to insult or criticize the president. Rights activists say these laws scare reporters and stop them from writing honest stories. Police and government workers have not said anything about this latest arrest case.
Trevor Ncube owns the company that prints the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper. He said cops planned to keep Zaba locked up overnight at Harare Central Police Station. The editor was already sick and needed to stay home resting when officers came for her. Ncube worried that jail time would make her health problems much worse. He posted messages online saying that writing news stories should never be treated as a crime.
Groups that protect journalists often complain about Zimbabwe's harsh laws. The government uses special rules that make it illegal to insult or criticize the president. Rights activists say these laws scare reporters and stop them from writing honest stories. Police and government workers have not said anything about this latest arrest case.
