Police arrested the editor of Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper and three members of his staff yesterday over a report of alleged police complicity in the looting of white-owned farms.
Mr Geoff Nyarota (50), editor of the Daily News, the deputy editor, Mr Bill Saidi (64), the news editor, Mr John Gambanga, and a reporter, Mr Sam Munyavi, were charged under security laws that they spread or published rumour or a false report likely to cause alarm and despondency by discrediting the police or military. Such charges under the Law and Order Maintenance Act carry a penalty of up to seven years in prison.
In a front-page report on the looting of farms in northern Zimbabwe, the Daily News reported allegations police vehicles were used by ruling party militants in what it called "well-orchestrated acts of lawlessness" on the farms.
In April, Mr Nyarota and two of his reporters were questioned and charged with defaming President Robert Mugabe.
Last year, the newspaper linked Mr Mugabe and the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa, to awarding contracts for a new international airport outside Harare that allegedly favoured politicians, ruling party supporters and their business associates.
In a crackdown against the government's perceived critics in recent months, three foreign journalists have been forced to leave the country and independent Zimbabwean journalists, including Mr Nyarota, have been threatened by ruling party militants.
In January, the Daily News' printing presses were bombed after the government called the paper an opposition mouthpiece. The newspaper has continued publishing smaller daily editions with a reduced print run, using private printers.