National Press Club Protests Jailing of N.Y. Times Reporter

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Press Club today protested the jailing of several journalists in Zimbabwe, including New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak, who was covering the presidential election there.

"The National Press Club is outraged that police in Zimbabwe have detained these journalists," said Sylvia Smith, the Club's president.

"Bearak was doing his job covering the elections in that country. It is unacceptable he was imprisoned for that."

Bearak, 58, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for his reporting from Afghanistan for the Times, and four other journalists were arrested yesterday at a guest house in Harare, Zimbabwe, according to press reports.

Voting last week left President Robert Mugabe facing a Parliament controlled by the opposition party. Mugabe forces raided the party offices and detained the journalists. Bearak and another reporter may have been charged with practicing journalism without accreditation, according to news reports.

"Any credentialing issue should be addressed without detaining the reporter," Smith said. "The detention has the appearance of a retribution for his coverage. By jailing these reporters without cause, the government of Zimbabwe is sending a message to the world that it opposes basic press freedoms." Bearak is a veteran newspaper reporter who worked for the Miami Herald and the Los Angeles Times before joining the New York Times. About the National Press Club With nearly 3,500 members worldwide, the National Press Club has been supporting journalists and the mission and development of journalism for 100 years. http://www.press.org/

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Source: National Press Club

CONTACT: Melinda Cooke of the National Press Club, +1-202-662-7516 or
+1-202-879-6710, president@press.org

Web Site: http://www.press.org/

2008-04-04 17:28:47 0328695 PRNEWSWIRE