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Zimbabwe: British Journalists Acquitted in Media Case

14 April 2005

A court in Zimbabwe has acquitted two British journalists on charges of reporting on last month's parliamentary elections without accreditation.

A magistrate says state prosecutors failed to prove that Sunday Telegraph correspondents Toby Harnden and Julian Simmonds were working in Zimbabwe as journalists.

However, the two men will have to appear in court on Friday to face a separate charge of violating Zimbabwe's immigration laws by overstaying their tourist visas.

They were arrested March 31, election day, while talking to voters in Norton.  Prosecutors accused them of reporting without government accreditation, an offense that carries a  jail term of up to two years in prison.

Their lawyer argued they were in Zimbabwe on vacation.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.

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