Zimbabwe will bar all unregistered foreign newspapers, its media commission said on Friday, in what could be the start of a crackdown on outlets critical of President Robert Mugabe ahead of a possible election this year. The commission said some foreign newspapers had failed to comply with a 2010 directive to register with the authorities and would be barred from circulation.
The unregistered newspapers are published outside of the country and distributed in Zimbabwe without a licence. "The ZMC (Zimbabwe Media Commission) has therefore resolved to appeal to the relevant law-enforcement authorities to bar affected papers from entrance into and circulation within Zimbabwe until they comply with Zimbabwe's laws," the ZMC said in a statement.
The move appears to be aimed at The Zimbabwean, a newspaper produced by exiles, and the Zimbabwe edition of South Africa's Sunday Times. Both frequently run stories critical of Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. Susan Smuts, editor of the Sunday Times Zimbabwe edition which is printed in Johannesburg and trucked up to Harare, said the paper was not registered.
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