Zimbabwe Journalist, Activist Held in “Stench”

According to Reporters Without Borders, the Zimbabwean police brought Mukoko and nine other human rights activists before a court on Dec. 24 on charges of organizing a Zimbabwean police officer’s trip to Botswana to receive military training as part of a plan to overthrow Mugabe.

Mukoko went to court Jan. 5, but the hearing was postponed, said Peta Thornycroft, an independent journalist in Zimbabwe who is the recipient of the IWMF’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award. A court order, which was defied by police, mandated that Mukoko and the other activists be evaluated at a hospital. “Chikurubi, the prison she is in, has the most appalling blocked sewage system of septic tanks, which haven't been cleaned for years and one can smell them from miles away, literally,” said Thornycroft. “I cannot imagine the stench inside the prison. She is in the women's prison, which is obviously better than the men's section."

The IWMF sent a petition to Mugabe concerning Mukoko’s Dec. 3 abduction. The former broadcaster at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation who now heads the Zimbabwe Peace Project was taken from her home by a group of men, some of whom were armed. The IWMF advocates for a free press and calls for Mukoko's release.