33 Statement by Paul Mangwana In October 2006, Mangwana, the Acting Information Minister, blamed journalists complained that government is getting too much bad press both locally and abroad because journalists were unpatriotic and were selling out the country for donor trinkets. He warned the journalists drawn mainly from the private press “endangering national interests.” “Journalists should not be misled by rich media houses that are financed from abroad within the context of neo-colonialism and contribute to the destruction of the economy for the sake of money,” he said. (Source: The Zimbabwean 19 October 2006.) Statement by Dr Mahoso Chairman of the Media and Information Commission In his column in the government-controlled Sunday Mail, Mahoso has described “neo-liberal journalists” as “moral parasites” and said white people were “not human”. (Source: Mail & Guardian (SA) 19 July 2005) On 28 January 2001, a powerful bomb extensively damaged the printing plant of the Daily News. This closely followed upon a warning by Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, that it was only a matter of time before Zimbabweans put a stop to the newspaper’s “madness”. No arrests have since been made of any of the persons involved. The previous year this newspaper’s town office was bombed. In 2002, a powerful bomb was detonated at the offices of private radio station. Condoning torture Statements by Robert Mugabe Speaking about the torture of two journalists in 1999 by army personnel he said that the response of the army to the coup plot story published by the journalists was understandable and he went on to say: “If the Standard had not behaved in such a blatantly dishonest and unethical manner the army would not have acted in the way they did.” (Source: Film footage from film entitled Dancing Out of Tune) Their words condemn them: The language of violence, intolerance and despotism in Zimbabwe.