29 March 2008
TWO South Africans have been arrested in Zimbabwe for allegedly participating in the election coverage build up without accreditation, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
Their lawyer, Chris Mhike, was last night trying to secure their release.
He made an urgent court application.
The two, from GlobeCast Africa in Johannesburg, were arrested in Harare on Thursday and were in police custody, said spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa. South Africa's embassy in Harare would "interact" with Zimbabwean authorities to find a resolution, Mamoepa said.
Alan Hird, CEO of GlobeCast Africa for whom they work, said they were not journalists, but technicians who provided satellite up-link equipment to media organisations who want to do live crossings.
They had the relevant "uplink licence" secured through a company that they regularly worked with on other jobs, like cricket coverage, and as far as he knew they had also applied for and secured media accreditation.
"We simply do not deal in content. We are the like the pipes that water flows through," Hird said. He understood that the two did not have their media accreditation on them at the time of their detention. A lawyer had been arranged for the two and a company representative was travelling up to see them. Hird did not want to release their names because he did not know if their family members knew of their detention.
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