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afrol News, 7 September - Zimbabwe's government yesterday refused to renew the work permit of Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist Griffin Shea; a US citizen. Shea will therefore have to leave the country within one week. Many of his reports from Zimbabwe had included a critical view on the Mugabe government. The AFP bureau in Harare announced today that the application of Shea, an American, had been rejected. His work permit expires on 14 September, after which he will no longer be able to work in the country. The French press agency added that the work permit of its Harare bureau chief was also coming up for renewal, at the end of November. The French media watchdog Reporters sans frontières (RSF) protested yesterday against the Zimbabwean government's refusal to renew Shea's work permit and accused the country's Information Ministry of "being hostile to the media." - Once again, your office has shown it is not working for the press and its journalists, but against them, said Reporters sans frontières secretary-general Robert Ménard in a letter to Information Minister Jonathan Moyo. He added that Moyo had "continually attacked journalists since he took office and considered that only reporters in the state-owned media did their job properly." Ménard called on the Minister to renew the Shea's work permit and that of any other journalist who requested a renewal. According to an RSF statement, the Zimbabwean authorities have "waged a wholesale campaign of harassment of local and foreign journalists for more than two years now." About 50 journalists had been arrested since January last year and three foreign correspondents forced to leave the country. Two new laws were passed earlier this year, including a new press law that makes working conditions very difficult for foreign journalists. Work permits are now harder to get and are issued for only very short periods. RSF calls these laws "repressive". According to RSF's 2002 annual report, the situation of the press in Zimbabwe is among the worst in the world. "In 2001 Zimbabwe became one of the most repressive countries on the African continent as far as press freedom is concerned. Twenty local journalists were arrested and three correspondents of the foreign press were expelled from the country."
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