SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
A journalist for The Times UK newspaper, accused of co-writing a story alleging that Zimbabwe had signed a deal to provide uranium to Iran, was briefly detained and interrogated by police in Harare on Wednesday. A team of four officers from the Zimbabwe Republic Police arrested Jan Raath at his home around 5:00 pm and took him to Harare Central, accompanied by his lawyer Harrison Nkomo of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. The police, led by Chief Inspector Runanga, interrogated the journalist for about two hours before he was released. Nkomo said they wanted the journalist to assist with their investigations into the much publicized story, and to determine Raath’s contribution to the “publication or communication of false statements prejudicial to the State.” The story, titled “Mugabe signs secret deal to sell uranium to Tehran”, alleged that Zimbabwe had entered into a deal to export uranium to Iran for use in the production of nuclear weapons. It was published in the Times UK newspaper on 10th August, 2013. Regarding his client, Nkomo said: “The truth is that he was never involved in the publication of the story. His involvement was basically to seek confirmation of the uranium deal from the Ministry of Mines, and the results were negative.” The Zim authorities have strongly any uranium deal with Iran. An Iranian delegation is known to have visited Zimbabwe in 2010 with a proposal for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) involving mining in general. The MOU did not mention any specific minerals and no deal was signed. Iran is subject to western economic sanctions for allegedly trying to produce nuclear weapons. But the officials in Tehran insist they are only after energy to power their nation. Zimbabwe is under targeted sanctions for the regime’s human rights abuses. According to Nkomo, Raath went back to Harare Central’s Law and Order Section Thursday, where he was questioned again for an hour, before signing an affidavit detailing his contribution to the uranium story. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said the police then advised Raath to “go and relax at home and continue with his duties” after the grilling sessions. The other journalists who allegedly contributed to the story are Jerome Starkey, Michael Evans and Hugh Tomlinson.