Exiled Zimbabwean editor critical after being shot

Panapress ^ | 07/28/07

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Dakar, Senegal - A bullet is still lodged near the heart of Zimbabwean editor, Abel Mutsakani, who was shot Monday in South Africa, where he is on asylum, the New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists lamented in a statement.

Mutsakani, one of dozens of Zimbabwean journalists forced into exile in neighbouring South Africa, was shot in the chest on Monday after three unidentified men attacked him near his home in Johannesburg, according to news reports.

Mutsakani, editor of the South Africa-based Zimbabwean news Web site ZimOnline, was resting at home Friday with the bullet after four days in hospital, his colleagues told CPJ.

The bullet had also sliced through his left hand, they said. A police investigation was under way.

"Our thoughts are with Abel Mutsakani and we wish him a speedy recovery," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.

"We call on the police in Johannesburg to pursue all leads in its investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice."

Mutsakani was shot by one of three unidentified men who approached him as he parked his car, according to news reports. None of the journalist's personal belongings were taken.

Mutsakani had not received any known threats, but a possible link between the attack and ZimOnline's critical coverage of the Zimbabwean government could not be ruled out, lawyer Daniel Molokele, a ZimOnline founder, told CPJ.

At least 90 Zimbabwean journalists live in South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, and in other African countries, according to CPJ research.

Some left Zimbabwe because of political persecution, others because of restrictions placed on the press, such as the 2002 Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which criminalized practising journalism without a government license.

Launched in 2004 in South Africa by uprooted Zimbabwean journalists and lawyers, ZimOnline operates in an unmarked office for security reasons.

Exiled reporters in Johannesburg say the proximity of the two countries has them worried that Zimbabwean government informants may infiltrate their community.

Mutsakani was the managing editor of Zimbabwe's now-defunct leading independent, Harare-based Daily News, when authorities shuttered the publication in September 2003, according to ZimOnline. He also served as managing editor of the independent weekly Financial Gazette, also in Harare.

Dakar - 28/07/2007

Panapress

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Sounds a lot like a hit.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

for your list

[Tax-chick]

Exiled Zimbabwean editor critical after being shot

Verbal mayhem ping!

[agere_contra]

Yes, I guess he would be! God, what a headline.

[Tax-chick]

"What a lousy shot that was! If he'd used a larger caliber, he could have killed me, but no ... had to be a wimp ...". (j/k)

I assume he was critical before being shot, too.

[BenLurkin]

Beat me to it.

[Gay State Conservative]

Well,the problem is that not all dictators have access to polonium 210.But bullets are just as effective even if they are noisier.

[Clive]

There is a history of attacks against the paper and its personnel, including bombing its printing press and its editorial office.

It was the only truly independent daily in Zim until it was put out of business in September 2003 and had to publish on the internet from exile in Johannesbug. Of course, with its reporters and stringers all in exile and prohibited from entering Zimbabwe as reporters, it was an unsatisfactory solution.