The Zimbabwean

21 January 2007

JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwean playwright Tinashe Jonasi and fellow artist Juliet Samata are moving secretly around South Africa to evade kidnap and torture from the Mugabe regime's dreaded spy agency.

The Murehwa-born Jonasi became a CIO target following the release of his controversial play entitled " BOB"- a political satire on the aging and unpopular ruler.Fearing for his life in Zimbabwe, he skipped south, but on learning that the artist was to publicize the play "BOB" in SA, CIO members intensified efforts to track down the two for what they described as "a pleasant trip back home".

"We had to offer shelter and humanitarian assistance to the two artists after they had been repeatedly hounded by CIO agents for their attempts to stage the play "BOB" in Joburg. They had become destitute because they spent most of their time running away from the Mugabe agents," said an official from a humanitarian organization assisting the two.

Many artists and journalists have fled Zimbabwe into South Africa fearing persecution, but the CIO is known to try and track down their victims even in South Africa."This is extra territorial-abuse of state power by the Mugabe government.This kind of behaviour is common - the CIO agents give you no rest wherever you go," said Remember Moyo, a political victim of the Mugabe government falsely implicated in the murder of Cain Nkala.

CAJ News








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