A court has convicted New York Times freelance correspondent Jeffrey Moyo on charges of breaching the country’s immigration laws and issued him a suspended sentence and a fine.
The journalist, Jeffrey Moyo, was accused of obtaining fake press credentials for two New Yor Times journalists who entered Zimbabwe last year on a reporting trip.
The court fined Moyo Z$200,000 and imposed a two-year suspended sentence that could be imposed if he is convicted of a similar offense in the next five years. His lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ Africa program coordinator Angela Quintal said the “conviction of journalist Jeffrey Moyo is a monumental travesty of justice and shows how far press freedom has deteriorated in Zimbabwe under President Emmerson Mnangagwa.”
“The fact that Moyo’s prison sentence was suspended does not make it any less of a mockery of justice. Authorities must not contest Moyo’s appeal, and ensure that he and other journalists can work in Zimbabwe freely, especially with a general election scheduled for next year.”
