The Zimbabwe government has approved a new bill that will effectively bar foreign journalists from operating in the country, the state-run daily, the Herald reported yesterday.
If the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill is passed by parliament, only citizens of Zimbabwe will be allowed to operate as correspondents for foreign media. Establishing foreign media offices will need the permission of the minister of information, according to the Herald. "This means all foreign journalists will need to be Zimbabwean citizens," the paper said.
Under the new law, a media and information commission which will register and accredit all journalists, will be set up. The commission will have powers to discipline journalists for misconduct, and journalists will be issued with registration certificates.
"The commission may delete a journalist's name from the register, order his suspension for a specified period and impose conditions it deems fit subject to which he shall be allowed to practise," the state paper said.
Violation of any of the provisions of the law will carry penalties ranging between Z$50,000 (€1,030) and Z$100,000 (€2,060) or a two-year jail term.
Relations between President Mugabe's government and the independent local and the foreign media are severely strained. In recent months, authorities have arrested local journalists, expelled foreign correspondents and tacitly accused the press of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The authorities have this year enacted a law that has effectively blocked private broadcasters from operating. Last week the government accused some foreign and local independent journalists of helping "terrorism" in the country.
The US, Britain and international media bodies have condemned the increasing accusations against the media in the run-up to next year's presidential election. The government has introduced new controls on foreign reporters, requiring them to apply for accreditation a month in advance of travelling to the country. Many local journalists have been victims of aggression and intimidation by the authorities.
Earlier this week, Geoffrey Nyarota, editor of the Daily News in Zimbabwe was awarded the 2002 Golden Pen of Freedom, the annual press freedom prize of the World Association of Newspapers. The award, announced by the board of the Paris-based WAN in South Africa, was made in recognition of Mr Nyarota's defence of press freedom in the face of constant persecution.
In a statement, the board said: "Geoffrey Nyarota has with great courage stood firm and resolute in the face of repeated attempts to silence him and his newspaper." He has been arrested and jailed and threatened with death, the printing presses of the Daily News have been destroyed by a bomb and his offices have been attacked.
Mr Nyarota (50) is editor-in-chief of the privately-owned Daily News, which was launched in 1999 and has become the largest circulating daily newspaper in Zimbabwe with daily sales of more than 100,000. The government-controlled Herald has seen its circulation decline from more than 150,000 to about 60,000 a day over the same period.