Arrest of journalists bad news for govt critics

The arrest of three journalists this week on criminal libel charges has been viewed by some commentators as yet another sign of the Malawi government's willingness to crack down on dissent. Robert Jamieson, owner of The Chronicle newspaper, its editor, Dickson Kashoti, and reporter Arnold Mlelemba were arrested on 8 May for allegedly defaming Malawi's Attorney General, Ralph Kasambara. The three were released on bail on Tuesday. The weekly paper had published an article that implicated Kasambara and the director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in Malawi, Charles Simango, in a stolen computer deal. "It's kind of an abuse of power," said political science lecturer Boniface Dulani. In what should have been a simple libel case, Kasambara "used his position to order law-and-order agents to fight his battle". "The whole media fraternity is very shocked by this development," said Denis Mzembe, managing editor of the Weekly Courier and former head of MISA in Malawi. "They fear a crackdown on perceived dissent by the government." The arrest of Jamieson, who heads the Southern African Editors Forum, follows the detention of Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha on treason charges for an alleged plot to assassinate President Bingu wa Mutharika. Several political analysts have dismissed the government's allegations as part of a simmering power struggle between Mutharika, and former president Bakili Muluzi and his opposition United Democratic Front, to which Chilumpha belongs. Ten opposition leaders and businessmen arrested last week in connection with the case have been released due to lack of evidence. The bail hearing of Chilumpha and his two alleged accomplices, Yusuf Matumula, a prominent businessman, and Rashid Nembo, has been set for Thursday. "You have to look at what is going on in its totality, and not in isolation," said Dulani. "There is a general sense of fear now in the country, that, if I make a statement, I might also be accused of treason."