Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe has signed into law a measure that sets prison terms of up to two years for any journalist found working without accreditation from the government-controlled Media and Information Commission. On its web site, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges Mugabe and his government to turn away from such measures, including another piece of repressive legislation still pending.
The newly enacted measure stiffens the 2002 law known as the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). The measure, titled the AIPPA Amendment Act, took effect on January 7.
Parliament passed the AIPPA Amendment Act in November as one in a series of measures adopted in advance of general elections scheduled for March. Critics say the measures are intended to intimidate the last vestiges of the independent press: Two independent weekly newspapers still operate in Zimbabwe, and some local correspondents work for foreign news agencies.