BY JAMES MUONWA
POLICE in Kadoma yesterday arrested NewsDay correspondent Nunurai Jena for allegedly shooting pictures at a roadblock.
Jena said the police officers confiscated his phone, which he was using to take the images, before hauling him to Rimuka Police Station.
He identified the arresting officers as one Mukumba and Assistant Inspector Samboka.
Jena was in the city to cover the Kadoma ward 2 by-election as well as the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence, Home Affairs and Security Services public hearings.
The roadblock where Jena was arrested is situated in ward 2, where there is a by-election to choose a new councillor today .
The seat fell vacant following MDC-Alliance councillor Michael Gore’s imprisonment four months ago for inciting public violence during the January violent protests against fuel price
hikes.
Jena said the police initially indicated they would prefer charging him for “disorderly conduct”.
“At first, the police officers said they were going to charge me for disorderly conduct. While I was in detention, I sent distress calls to all relevant media partners so that they could facilitate my release from the unlawful arrest,” he said
“However, after spending three hours being held at Rimuka Police Station, I was finally released without charge.”
Jena, an accredited journalist with the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), is a Mashonaland West-based correspondent for NewsDay and The Standard, both publications under the Alpha Media Holdings stable.
