Zambia Reports, described as a critical news website, has been blocked by the Zambian Government in its attempt to intensify its muzzle on the media in the country.
According to a report by the Zambia Reports, a large group of protesters who call themselves Zambian bloggers, gathered at the Freedom Statue in Lusaka to voice their disapproval of the government blocking domestic access the Zambia Reports site as well as the Zambian Watchdog.
Various sources reportedly said the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party allegedly hired both Chinese and Russian technical teams in order to block the sites due to their exposure of legal violations and corruption by officials working for president Michael Sata’s administration.
The PF has tried to shut down the Zambian Watchdog since last month, which has been condemned by international organisations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without borders with the latter creating a mirror site for the Zambian Watchdog.
The protesting bloggers have called on the Zambian government to cease harassing journalists, which were recently arrested.
Clayson Hamasaka, Thomas Zymano, and Wilson Mpondamali are reportedly being persecuted for their alleged contributions to the Zambian Watchdog.
According to the Zambian Watchdog, Mpondamali will be charged by the police despite them not having found any “seditious material” following the raid of his home on Wednesday last week.
The Zambian Watchdog said Mpondamali “was abducted by police around 18 hours local time in Kabwe on Tuesday July 16, 2013. He was abducted by a group of police officers in plain clothes just when he reached the bus stop in Kabwe. He was returning from Lusaka”.
The Zambian Watchdog reports the police are attempting to link Mpondamali to the Zambian Watchdog and is the third journalist to be detained in the past week.
