* Media authority says foreign papers failed to register
* Calls on police to stop newspapers from circulating
By Nelson Banya
HARARE, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe will bar all
unregistered foreign newspapers, its media commission said on
Friday, in what could be the start of a crackdown on outlets
critical of President Robert Mugabe ahead of a possible election
this year.
The commission said some foreign newspapers had failed to
comply with a 2010 directive to register with the authorities
and would be barred from circulation. The unregistered
newspapers are published outside of the country and distributed
in Zimbabwe without a licence.
“The ZMC (Zimbabwe Media Commission) has therefore resolved
to appeal to the relevant law-enforcement authorities to bar
affected papers from entrance into and circulation within
Zimbabwe until they comply with Zimbabwe’s laws,” the ZMC said
in a statement.
The move appears to be aimed at The Zimbabwean, a newspaper
produced by exiles, and the Zimbabwe edition of South Africa’s
Sunday Times. Both frequently run stories critical of Mugabe and
his ZANU-PF party.
Susan Smuts, editor of the Sunday Times Zimbabwe edition
which is printed in Johannesburg and trucked up to Harare, said
the paper was not registered.
“We don’t have an office there and when we looked at the
forms to register, we didn’t think it applied to us,” she said.
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