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MBABANE - Press freedom is a right, not a privilege and the Zimbabwe government's recent spate of laws muzzling the press must not go unchallenged, the Media Institute of Southern Africa in Swaziland said on Sunday.

Misa, in a joint statement with the Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) and the Swaziland Media and Publishing Allied Workers Union (SMEPAWU), said these laws aimed to control the media in the run-up to Zimbabwe's presidential elections in March.

The controversial laws are the Public Order and Security Act and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill. Both impose wide-ranging restrictions on freedom of expression in Zimbabwe.

The groups said the Zimbabwean government's new legislation was "an effort to legalise its on-going harassment of journalists and its blatant disregard for the constitutionally enshrined freedom of expression".

It also violated international agreements on press freedom to which Zimbabwe is a signatory.

The proposed legislation imposes excessive restrictions on what the media may publish or broadcast and forces journalists to get accreditation from a government-controlled body.

It also calls for all media outlets or businesses disseminating media products or even video or audio recordings to get a registration certificate from a government-controlled body.

Foreign ownership of the media is also prohibited and non-citizens of Zimbabwe are forbidden from working as journalists. The laws grant the authorities excessive powers to prevent demonstrations.

"Such oppressive legislations are no longer acceptable at this time and age," they said.

"SADC (Southern African Development Community) states and governments are supposed to be more sensitive to the international expectations and desist creating a situation whereby our economies are affected negatively and in the process millions of our people in the region are left in poverty," the statement said.

Meanwhile, 75 Zimbabwean journalists and foreign correspondents met in Harare on Saturday to plan protests against the media bill to be put before parliament this week.

They resolved not to comply with the registration requirements of the bill and to send a delegation to Information Minister Jonathan Moyo's office on Monday with a third petition. Nampa-Sapa

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