In Zimbabwe, state prosecutors have conceded that Jestina Mukoko, journalist and director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was abducted and illegally detained. Mukoko, who is being charged with banditry, sabotage and terrorism, was granted bail after 92 days of detention following her abduction from her home in the outskirts of Harare on 3 December 2008. Mukoko has waged numerous court battles for her freedom until her subsequent committal to bail on 6 May 2009. Her lawyer stated that prosecutors were making their case solely based on evidence obtained while Mukoko was being tortured. Source: Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA)

  In Swaziland, journalists covering an HIV/AIDS workshop for Swazi parliamentarians were expelled from the workshop on 30 June, when Members of Parliament (MPs) and Senators expressed displeasure at their presence. They cited a recent incident in which an MP was publicly embarrassed after he uttered a statement which was found to be improper during a workshop. The MP had suggested that people living with HIV-AIDS should be branded on the buttocks so they can easily be identified by their sex partners. The statement was picked up by the media and widely publicized. The MP was consequently forced by HIV/AIDS activists to apologize and withdraw his statement. After the incident, parliamentarians said they don’t want to be caught off guard making improper statements. “We request that we be allowed to learn without the presence of the media," the parliamentarians said. The National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA), which organized the workshop, obliged and expelled the journalists. Source: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Source: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)