1 November 2008
A British journalist was last Thursday arrested at Harare International Airport on allegations of practising journalism without accreditation.
Phillip Warington Taylor (36) intended to return to Britain after spending 30 days in Zimbabwe when Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) agents arrested him aboard his flight, which was about to take off.
"We went to court today and he is out of custody on $150 000 bail," Taylor's lawyer Harrison Nkomo said. He is expected in court on November 5.
Taylor, who was ordered to surrender his passport, is denying the charges being preferred against him saying he never at any point practised journalism during his month-long stay in the country. He says he was only a visitor.
The Zimbabwe government is infamous for its heavy-handed treatment of foreign and private media journalists, with many having fallen victim to arrests especially during election periods.
Taylor's arrest was effected after an historic signing of a political agreement between Zanu PF and the two opposition MDC formations where a pledge was made to "uphold and develop press freedom".
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HA HA HA! That's what you get for practising journalism illegally! Hopefully you will also be extradited to Equatorial Guinea when our courts find that you were also involved in a coup to overthrow the other great democrat of our continent (the first, of course, is our inimitable Bob) .