'Independent' journalist is harassed by police

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'Independent' journalist is harassed by Mugabe

Today, police will arrest me for a crime I didn't commit

Basildon Peta, The Independent's correspondent in Zimbabwe, faces arrest and imprisonment today for taking part in a peaceful demonstration against plans to crack down on the media.

Police ransacked the home of Mr Peta, who is also the secretary general of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, over the weekend. They have accused him of organising a protest outside Parliament last week without police permission.

Mr Peta, who has already been arrested twice in the course of his work as a journalist, insists he has done nothing wrong and will go to the police station today.

The harassment came as the European Union prepared to send in monitors for next month's presidential election.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, told 16,000 supporters at his first election rally yesterday that the ruling Zanu-PF would try to fix the vote. He urged supporters to flood the polls. "A large turn-out will make it difficult for Zanu-PF to rig the election." Sanctions could be imposed if the Zimbabweans fail to meet international demands for a fair election.

Officials in Brussels said they believed Harare would bow to demands to admit observers, despite defiant talk from Mr Mugabe. "For the moment we are taking them at their word that they intend international observers ... to be admitted," said a spokeswoman for Chris Patten, the European commissioner for external relations. An advance guard of about half-a-dozen European Union monitors are due to arrive in Zimbabwe this week to help set up the logistics of the operation. They should be followed by up to 30 monitors who are expected to observe the election campaign, with a further 150 due to watch over the vote.

If Harare refuses to admit election observers, Mr Mugabe and about 20 senior colleagues face a visa ban and a freeze of overseas assets.

Under the deal agreed by EU foreign ministers, sanctions could also be imposed if the observers are stopped from operating freely, if the international media is prevented from covering the elections or if human rights abuses seriously deteriorate.