Zambian bishops defend freedom of the press following journalist’s arrest
July 21, 2009
The bishops of the southern African nation of Zambia have come to the defense of the freedom of the press following the arrest of journalist who photographed a mother giving birth to her child on a city street, thus illustrating the consequences of a strike by healthcare workers.
“The Government must clamp down on violence against the media. Furthermore, the Government must itself desist from the harassment, persecution and prosecution of individual journalists, media institutions and ordinary citizens perceived to hold different views from those favoured by the Government,” the bishops said in a July 19 statement. “Rather, the Government should expend its energy on major issues such as tackling corruption; finding solutions to the mining sector; commencing continuous voter registration; addressing food prices; buying maize and other crops from farmers; finalising an inclusive Republican Constitution and resolving the endemic power outages.”
The bishops’ comments came in a pastoral letter lamenting the state of healthcare in the nation.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
