Defiant VOP radio station director speaks on ordeal

By Lance Guma
27 December 2005

The VOP radio station director, John Masuku who was released on Z$4 million bail after police launched a crackdown on his station has told Newsreel of his ordeal at the hands of the police. Although he suffered no physical abuse, conditions inside the cells at Harare Central were unbearable. The filthy environment made life very uncomfortable for him and this was not helped by a distinct possibility they were trying to detain him over the Christmas holiday.

The police interrogated him on the operations of the radio station and seemed to want to use the opportunity to get as much information on them as possible. He expressed regret that three female journalists Maria Nyanyiwa, Kundai Mugwanda and Nyasha Bosha had to go through a 5-day detention ordeal only because they were employees of the station. Police picked up the trio on the 15 th of December following a raid on the stations Harare offices.

The police said they were looking for broadcasting equipment and had a search warrant to back it up. On not finding anything they confiscated computers, tapes and files from the offices. Later they declared the female journalists would not be released until the Directors of the station had handed themselves in. Masuku explained to Newsreel that the reason why the police let VOP Chairperson David Masunda off the hook was because they were only interested in him (Masuku) as the person running the day-to-day activities of the station.