{"id":5898,"date":"2013-03-14T16:57:51","date_gmt":"2013-03-14T20:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=5898"},"modified":"2013-03-14T16:59:48","modified_gmt":"2013-03-14T20:59:48","slug":"sw-radio-africa-police-targeting-children-in-radio-raids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/sw-radio-africa-police-targeting-children-in-radio-raids\/","title":{"rendered":"SW Radio Africa: Police targeting children in radio raids"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Zimbabwe-Map\"<\/a>(Source: SW Radio Africa<\/a>)<\/p>\n

By Nomalanga Moyo
\n14 March 2013<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Villagers in Lupane revealed that the police have been visiting schools and asking little children in Grade 0 and Grade 1(aged between 4 and 6 years) whether their parents own or listen to any radios.<\/p>\n

This follows reports that suspected state security agents on Tuesday raided several homesteads at Mpofu village in the Gwampa area and confiscated the wind-up radios.<\/p>\n

Speaking to SW Radio Africa one villager who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said the police have been going to schools, writing down names, and then visiting those suspected of owning the radios by night.<\/p>\n

She said although the agents will be wearing civilian clothes, the villagers know it is the police since they have been announcing their ban on radios.<\/p>\n

Our source said she suspects the police are aware of the popularity of shortwave radios in the area, hence they are now confiscating them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police have been announcing that villagers should not be in possession of these radios. Their reason is that we listen to news broadcasts from outside the country which criticise ZANU PF.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch harassment by the state security agents normally escalates during election time, which indicates that we are not free to exercise our individual choices if we can\u2019t even listen to different views offered by these shortwave radio stations,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday an MDC official from Mpofu Village, Cosmas Phiri, told the NewsDay<\/i> newspaper that MDC members were raided shortly before midnight on Monday.<\/p>\n

Phiri, who was with some of the affected villagers, told NewsDay<\/i> that a group of state security agents confiscated at least 10 radios from more than 10 people.<\/p>\n

The night raids have stirred up fear within the community, following threats that those who refused to surrender their radio receivers will be abducted and \u201cmade to disappear\u201d invoking memories of Gukurahundi.<\/p>\n

Since the announcement of the constitutional referendum date on February 15th<\/sup>, Zimbabwean police have embarked on a nationwide campaign targeting civic society organisations and individuals.<\/p>\n

On February 19th<\/sup> the police announced a ban on \u2018specially designed\u2019 radios, which they argued will be used to promote hate speech ahead of the polls.<\/p>\n

Following the ban several organisations have been raided, including community radio initiative Radio Dialogue where police seized more than 180 wind-up radio sets and arrested its managing editor.<\/p>\n

Last month, officers ransacked the offices of poll observers ZESN as well as those of violence monitoring group the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), in search of the so-called \u201cillegal\u201d radios.<\/p>\n

The police have since arrested ZPP head Jestina Mukoko and charged her with, among other things, illegally importing short wave radios.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thanks, Rich, for passing this news along. Read the full article and follow news on the radio ban at SW Radio Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(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 asking little children in Grade […]<\/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":[3,26,43],"tags":[4082,1767,102,136,1752],"class_list":["post-5898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-radios","category-shortwave-radio","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-sw-radio-africa","tag-why-radio","tag-zimbabwe","tag-zimbabwe-radio-ban"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1x8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5836,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/zimbabwe-door-to-door-search-for-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":5898,"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":5952,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/zimbabwe-more-police-raids-in-search-of-shortwave-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":5898,"position":1},"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":5704,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/zimbabwe-are-shortwave-radios-now-illegal\/","url_meta":{"origin":5898,"position":2},"title":"Zimbabwe: are shortwave radios now illegal?","author":"Thomas","date":"February 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Analog Radio Dial","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/swdial.jpg?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":5898,"position":3},"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":10472,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/sw-radio-africa-lost-donor-support\/","url_meta":{"origin":5898,"position":4},"title":"SW Radio Africa lost donor support","author":"Thomas","date":"August 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"According to Radio VOP, SW Radio Africa's closure is due to a loss of donor support. Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Richard Cuff, for the tip: (Source: Radio VOP) \"London-based SW Radio Africa has been forced to cease broadcasting after losing donor support. SW Radio Africa, a non-profit station\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SWRadioAfrica","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/SWRadioAfrica.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/SWRadioAfrica.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/SWRadioAfrica.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10297,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/swra-to-end-shortwave-broadcasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":5898,"position":5},"title":"SWRA to end shortwave broadcasts","author":"Thomas","date":"July 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The clandestine station, Shortwave Radio Africa, announced today that it\u00a0will end\u00a0shortwave radio broadcasts to Zimbabwe. As we've posted before, Zimbabwe is a country that does not exactly embrace free press. Indeed, Mugabe\u00a0has even been known to order the\u00a0confiscation of self-powered shortwave radios from citizens. I have a hunch this closure\u00a0is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Zimbabwe ranks 135 out of a possible 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Zimbabwe-PressFreedomIndex-SM.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Zimbabwe-PressFreedomIndex-SM.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Zimbabwe-PressFreedomIndex-SM.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5898","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=5898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5898\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}