By A Correspondent| Freelance journalist Panashe Makufa was on 26 November 2020 arrested in Harare’s central business district while taking pictures of commuter transport problems.

Makufa was released without charge after being held by the police for about an hour.

The pictures that he captured as part of the story included images of the police officers who arrested him in the mistaken belief that it is a crime for journalists to photograph members of the uniformed forces.

Despite producing his Zimbabwe Media Commission press card, the police still proceeded to arrest him and took him to Harare Central Police Station for further interrogation.

Makufa was only released following the deployment of lawyer Chris Mhike by MISA Zimbabwe. Mhike explained to the police that the arrest was a violation of media freedom and that Makufa had not broken any known law.