U.S. press leaders to Zimbabwe: Free jailed journalist

The leaders of the National Press Club and the National Press Club Journalism Institute have called on authorities in Zimbabwe to release Hopewell Chin’ono, an award-winning journalist who has been jailed on trumped-up charges and held in reportedly inhumane conditions,

Chin’ono has won the CNN-sponsored African Journalist of the Year award and was named a Nieman Journalism fellow at Harvard University, among many other honors.

Now he has become one of several dozen journalists jailed across Africa as a consequence of their work.

In Zimbabwe, he is one of scores of people, opposition leaders to activists to priests, who have been incarcerated for criticizing authorities.

Chin’ono was taken into custody on July 20 and charged with inciting violence against the government. His arrest came in the wake of his reporting on government procurement fraud.

“Hopewell Chin’ono is a solid journalist who has been jailed for having the temerity to report the truth,” Club President Michael Freedman said.  “Journalists in the United States join other concerned people in condemning this injustice, and we call for his prompt release.”

Chin’ono repeatedly has been  denied bail and is being detained in an overcrowded cell without adequate sanitation or food, his legal team has said.

He and his fellow prisoners are said to lack protections against the coronavirus, even as at least two other jailed journalists, one in Egypt and the other in Honduras, have died from COVID-19 this year.

Angela Greiling Keane, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club’s nonprofit affiliate, expressed outrage at the conditions of Chin’ono’s detention.

“It is bad enough to jail Chin’ono or any reporter on phony charges and then deny him bail, but it is even more appalling to keep him in intolerable conditions that could jeopardize his health,” Greiling Keane said.

Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. The club has 3,000 members representing every major journalism organization.

The Club and its Journalism Institute form a powerful voice for press freedom worldwide. The Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press, and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire civic engagement.