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| National |
| Police assault Nation journalist |
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by
Pilirani Semu-Banda, 11 October 2004
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08:21:29
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Riot police in Mulanje Thursday assaulted Nation photo-journalist Emmanuel Muwamba as he was trying to take pictures of a fracas where former workers of Chitakale Tea Estate were burning tea plantations protesting against nonpayment of wages and their terminal benefits after government directed the closure of the estate.
The riot police accused Muwamba of taking pictures without their permission, saying they had a right to stop anyone from doing things they do not want to be done.
The police officers manhandled Muwamba on two different occasions.
Initially the police officers ordered the photo-journalist to stop taking pictures of the fracas and attempted to grab his digital camera and when he did not budge, they prodded him with their guns and grabbed his digital camera which they tried to break.
However Muwamba struggled to grab back the camera which he hid in a vehicle.
The officers went on to manhandle Muwamba, slapped him and took off his shirt and ripped his vest apart.
It was only after The Nation crew tried to call police public relations officer Willie Mwaluka for intervention that the police officers left Muwamba but not before they had insulted the crew.
National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa), the national media body, which protects the rights of journalists, condemned the conduct of the police Thursday, saying the act was a “very unacceptable and very retrogressive conduct on the part of the police”.
Namisa spokesman Innocent Chitosi said this is regrettable because it is happening at a time when the country is moving towards national reconciliation and redirecting its efforts towards national development.
“It’s very regrettable for the so-called reformed police to behave this way. We call upon the new IG whom we know to be professional so far to take up this issue,” said Chitosi.
Chitosi said Namisa will take up the issue with relevant authorities but that if nothing happens, the organisation will seek legal redress.
Earlier, as the Nation crew tried to cover a meeting between representatives of the workers and Ministry of Labour Officials, Mulanje Police officer-in-charge Jameson Sabao, threatened them, saying he did not like “the lies that are aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation” about the situation in the estates.
“I am warning you,” said Sabao, who later ganged up with officials from the Ministry of Labour to chase the crew out of the meeting. |
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