Africa News

Jun 5, 2009, 17:09 GMT

Harare court orders government to stop taking fees from journalists

Harare - A Zimbabwean court has ordered a government-run media commission to stop accrediting and interfering with the work of journalists intending to cover the country. Judge Bharat Patel ordered Friday that the Media and Information Commission was 'defunct' and must stop collecting accreditation fees from journalists. The ruling followed a case brought by a number of Zimbabwean journalists against the Media and Information Commission for having demanded 150 dollars each for accreditation services for foreign- based reporters wishing to cover the meeting for foreign ministers of the Common Market of East and Southern Africa (Comesa) currently taking place in Victoria Falls. 'I order that the ... MIC and the government stop ... interfering with the journalists who want to cover Comesa and any public event in Zimbabwe,' said Patel. The Zimbabwean government had been charging 1,500 US dollars for foreign journalists wishing to enter the country, while foreign organizations intending to operate from Zimbabwe would pay 3,000 dollars a year. Other foreign organizations, such as the BBC and CNN, have been banned from operating in the country. The MIC had been officially disbanded before the coalition government under Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangarai was formed in February 2009, although a successor organization has not yet been created.

And Also

Look Back at the Worst Celebrity Breakups

Look Back at the Worst Celebrity Breakups - PopEater
Koobface using new tricks to infect this holiday season - The Tech Herald
Sims 3 Gets 24-Hour Discount - Cinema Blend
Mysteries of "Kylie Bisutti," "Kalika Moquin," and "Jaimee Grubbs," Solved - PopEater
A&E series 'Hoarders' and 'Intervention' premiere Monday, Nov. 30th, preview

Your Talkback on this Story

Similar articles

Editor, deputy jailed for naming abductors of activists
Zimbabwean journalists criticize "astronomical" fees
Zimbabwe imposes stiff fees for foreign reporters
Economic crisis throws Zimbabwe into "information dark age" (Feature)
More "illegal" journalists arrested in Zimbabwe: state radio

Latest Headlines in Africa

Older Talkback

Africa: Index

: News; Features

Latest Pics

Christine Lahti

From Sites we Like

If you pay handsomely for hand sanitizers, you'll be happy to know they sort of work -- if you wash your hands vigorously beforehand [Asinine]
In the end, he had a point [Dumbass]

More Not News from Fark

In Monsters and Critics

: Arts; Books; DVD; Gaming; Lifestyle; Movies; Music; News; People; Science & Nature; Sport; TV; Archives
Other Languages and Sites: Deutschland (Monsters and Critics); The Tech Herald; Free Games

Entertainment: Arts; Books; DVD; Gaming; Movies; Music; People; Soundtracks; TV
Media: Celebrity Photos; Movie Pictures; Movie Trailers; Movie Posters; Theatre Stills; Celebrity Video; Music Video
Released this week: Movies - USA; Movies - UK; DVD - USA
Distractions: Online Games; Daily Crossword; Sudoku Classic; Daily Jigsaw

World News: US; UK; Americas; Europe; Middle East; Asia Pacific; South Asia; Africa; Business; Education; Health
Science and Tech: Science and Nature; Technology
Lifestyle: Autos; Fashion; Life; Travel

Corporate

: About; Advertise; Contact; The Team; Vacancies; Privacy; RSS; Site Map; Terms; Webmasters

The Fine Print

© 2003 - 2009 by Monsters and Critics.com, WotR Ltd. All Rights Reserved. All photos are copyright their respective owners and are used under license or with permission. * Note M&C cannot be held responsible for the content on other Web Sites.

Servers supplied by Servint