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Zim court jails SA nationals for illegal possession of broadcasting eq

Zim court jails SA nationals for illegal possession of broadcasting eq
By George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Thursday June 05, 2008 [04:00]

THREE South African nationals that were arrested after being found in possession of broadcasting equipment belonging to the British television network Sky News have each been jailed for six months. And accreditation of election observers and journalists to cover the presidential runoff has started and will run until June 27, the election day.

According to the state media, Simon Maodi (38), Resemate Chauke (46) and Bernet Hasani Sono (34) were sent to jail by the Bulawayo Magistrates' Court after being convicted of possessing broadcasting equipment belonging to Sky News without authorisation.

The trio pleaded guilty to contravening Section 33 (1) of the Postal and Telecommunications Act, Chapter 12.03, before Matebeleland provincial magistrate John Masimba.

Zimbabwean laws provide for a monetary penalty and/or a prison term for the offence.
Last week on Friday, magistrate Masimba postponed the passing of the sentence to this week to consider several other issues.

Among the issues for consideration were the state's application, for the forfeiture of the vehicle and the broadcasting equipment that were recovered from the three. The application was granted.

Magistrate Masimba stated that he found that there were no special circumstances to persuade the court not to order the forfeiture of the broadcasting equipment.

Police arrested the trio at a roadblock last week in Zimbabwe's southern city of Bulawayo.

About three days ago, Ministry of Information and Publicity permanent secretary George Charamba, who was accompanied by officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), displayed the equipment on state television - Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

Charamba warned that the Zimbabwean authorities would deal firmly with perpetrators of such illegal activities.

The police also explained that the motor vehicle carrying the three South African nationals was impounded at a roadblock in the Mbalabala area after the Sky News broadcasting equipment was discovered.

Police provincial spokesperson Ronald Muderedzwa narrated that the trio and another suspect were broadcasting illegally from a factory in Bulawayo.

He said the three South Africans failed to account properly on how they came in possession of the Sky News broadcasting kit.

"They said they had been sent by certain ‘white’ South Africans who are in Bulawayo. The equipment suggests that these people were running a studio as Sky News because all the gadgets they have are labelled Sky News," he said.

The impounded broadcasting kit include satellite dishes, transmitters, laptops, telephone handsets, video and audiotapes.

Prior to the historic March 29 presidential, parliamentary and council elections, the Zimbabwean authorities barred several foreign media houses from covering the elections.

The Ministry of Information and Publicity, which is responsible for the accreditation of foreign media institutions, warned that the authorities would deal with journalists found in the country illegally.

This has prompted various media organisations like Cable News Network (CNN), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Sky News that are barred from the country to use undercover journalists.

And accreditation of observers and journalists to cover the forthcoming presidential runoff has commenced.

In a statement released yesterday, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) deputy chief elections officer for operations Utloile Silaigwana stated that the accreditation would start at 09:00 hours and end at 17:00 hours everyday at Bulawayo and Harare polytechnic colleges.

ZEC stated that local observers would be required to pay an accreditation fee of US$30 each while local journalists would not pay any fee.

Silaigwana further stated that election observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and Africa would pay US$100 per person and observers and journalists from outside Africa would pay US$300 per person.

Applicants for accreditation would be required to produce proof of invitation from relevant ministries in the country.

Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, INTERNATIONAL MEDIA, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 5:37 PM