{"id":5704,"date":"2013-02-20T17:39:02","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T21:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=5704"},"modified":"2013-02-20T17:39:02","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T21:39:02","slug":"zimbabwe-are-shortwave-radios-now-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/zimbabwe-are-shortwave-radios-now-illegal\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe: are shortwave radios now illegal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Analog<\/a>According to SW Radio Africa<\/a>, it appears that shortwave radios could now be considered “illegal communicating devices” in Zimbabwe:<\/p>\n

Police have announced a ban on \u2018specially designed radios\u2019 that are \u2018not compatible with state owned stations\u2019, claiming the devices would be used to communicate hate speech ahead of polls scheduled for this year.<\/p>\n

In a move seen as an attempt to silence external radio stations, such as SW Radio Africa and VOA\u2019s Studio 7, broadcasting to Zimbabwe via shortwave and medium wave, police spokesperson Charity Charamba threatened to deal with organizations that helped to distribute portable radios, saying recipients would also be arrested.<\/p>\n

She told journalists at a press conference in Harare on Tuesday: \u201cWe have information that some people or political parties are engaging in illegal activities, that is to say they are distributing illegal communicating devices to unsuspecting members of the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strongly believe that the intentions of such people are not holy but meant to create and sow seeds of disharmony within the country, especially now that the country is about to embark on the referendum and harmonised elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shocking news comes as police upped their onslaught on civil society organization looking for subversive material, gadgets and recordings.<\/p>\n

[…]Co-Home Affairs Minister Teresa Makoni revealed [..]that […] receivers only, without ability to transmit, are perfectly legal and that there is no law at present which disallows anyone donating radios to the public.<\/p>\n

However the minister said she held lengthy discussions with Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, who said he is concerned that NGOs always intensify distribution just before elections.<\/p>\n

Makon[i] said: \u201cI was very clear that airwaves are still restricted to other parties, that is why my party is distributing radios to our poor rural members\u2026in the meantime he will have his engineers verify that the radios are simple receivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Observers say this response ignores the fact that there is likely to be massive intimidation as the average police officer will not know the difference between a receiver and two-way radio communicators.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click here to read Violet Ganda’s full report on\u00a0<\/a>SW Radio Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Rich, for bringing this to my attention.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to SW Radio Africa, it appears that shortwave radios could now be considered “illegal communicating devices” in Zimbabwe: Police have announced a ban on \u2018specially designed radios\u2019 that are \u2018not compatible with state owned stations\u2019, claiming the devices would be used to communicate hate speech ahead of polls scheduled for this year. In a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,43],"tags":[102,84],"class_list":["post-5704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-why-radio","tag-why-shortwave-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1u0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5836,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/zimbabwe-door-to-door-search-for-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":5704,"position":0},"title":"Zimbabwe: door-to-door search for radios","author":"Thomas","date":"March 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: SW Radio Africa) On Friday police in Rusape went door-to-door to houses belonging to known MDC-T supporters, in search of shortwave radios. But the MP for Makoni South said they found nothing. Pishai Muchauraya said the morning raids saw police officers go in groups of three to MDC-T homes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"FR160","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/FR160-300x252.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5898,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/sw-radio-africa-police-targeting-children-in-radio-raids\/","url_meta":{"origin":5704,"position":1},"title":"SW Radio Africa: Police targeting children in radio raids","author":"Thomas","date":"March 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: SW Radio Africa) By Nomalanga Moyo 14 March 2013 The illegal seizure of wind-up radios reached new levels this week with reports that the police are now using primary school pupils to source information about the receivers. Villagers in Lupane revealed that the police have been visiting schools and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Zimbabwe-Map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Zimbabwe-Map-270x300.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5749,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/media-institute-of-southern-africa-reacts-to-zimbabwe-shortwave-receiver-ban\/","url_meta":{"origin":5704,"position":2},"title":"Media Institute of Southern Africa reacts to Zimbabwe shortwave receiver ban","author":"Thomas","date":"February 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"International broadcasters (and those cutting their budgets) should ask themselves the following question: If shortwave radio is no longer relevant in today's high-tech world, why are these radios suddenly being banned in a country controlled by a repressive regime? The government of Zimbabwe apparently fears the little self-powered shortwave radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The shortwave version of the Eton Microlink FR160 is one of the noted \"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/FR160.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5952,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/zimbabwe-more-police-raids-in-search-of-shortwave-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":5704,"position":3},"title":"Zimbabwe: More police raids in search of shortwave radios","author":"Thomas","date":"March 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In this case it's not a child who was targeted in the raid, rather, the Prime Minister's Principal Director: (Source: SW Radio Africa) A top lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, is being held by Harare police after she reacted to early morning raids leading to the arrest of Thabani Mpofu, Principal Director\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Zimbabwe-Map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Zimbabwe-Map-270x300.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3557,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/in-zimbabwe-if-you-want-to-hear-the-truth-listen-to-shortwave-radio-africa-to-listen-to-voa\/","url_meta":{"origin":5704,"position":4},"title":"In Zimbabwe, “if you want to hear the truth…listen to Shortwave Radio Africa…listen to VOA”","author":"Thomas","date":"May 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a brilliant piece on the lack of press freedom in Zimbabwe and the importance of shortwave radio. It was broadcast yesterday on Weekend All Things Considered. Links to the show and audio are below. (Source: NPR) In Seke, a rural community 40 miles outside Harare, James Chidakwa and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/npr_logo.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6935,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/brian-hongwe-reports-on-importance-of-shortwave-radios-in-zimbabwe\/","url_meta":{"origin":5704,"position":5},"title":"Brian Hongwe reports on importance of shortwave radios in Zimbabwe","author":"Thomas","date":"July 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0Dave\u00a0for sharing this excellent radio documentary from the BBC World Service show, The Fifth Floor. In this brief report, reporter Brian Hongwe clearly explains why police are seizing shortwave radios and arresting those who own them in the run up to the Zimbabwe elections. Hint: Information = power\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Zimbabwe-Map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Zimbabwe-Map-270x300.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}