Zambia
Zambian press situation worsens

afrol News, 1 June - For the second time since inauguration of President Levy Mwanawasa, a journalist has been arrested. The director of the independent newspaper 'The People' was arrested and beaten for having indicated that the President has Parkinson's Disease.

According to the French media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), Emmanuel Chilekwa, editor of the privately-owned newspaper 'The People', was arrested yesterday for libelling Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa. RSF strongly protested against "the brutalisation of Chilekwa."

- We ask you to show your clear commitment to press freedom and to ensure that no other journalist will be arrested, said RSF secretary-general Robert Ménard in a letter to President Mwanawasa, who has sued Chilekwa. The group has called for the offence of "defaming the President" to be depenalised. 

The Police have released Emmanuel Chilekwa, who wrote that President Mwanawasa had Parkinson's Disease, without charging him with defaming the President. "They just hand-cuffed me, beat me up and demanded to know who gave me the information about the President and then released me. I refused to give them the information because it is against my ethics", the journalist said. 

Fred M'membe, editor of the privately-owned daily 'The Post', was detained by police for several hours on 11 February and then released on bail after being charged with libel for reporting that opposition MP Dipak Patel had called the president "a cabbage." 

Patel himself was arrested and held for several hours. Police announced on 26 February that proceedings against him had been dropped after he publicly apologised. 

Sources: Based on RSF and afrol archives

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