Mugabe locking up foreign journalists?

This doesn’t sound good: Security agents and paramilitary police in riot gear are surrounding a Harare hotel housing foreign journalists. A man answering the phone at the hotel says they are taking away some reporters. The man refused to give his name but said about 30 police entered the hotel Thursday and were preparing to ...

This doesn’t sound good:

Security agents and paramilitary police in riot gear are surrounding a Harare hotel housing foreign journalists.

A man answering the phone at the hotel says they are taking away some reporters.

The man refused to give his name but said about 30 police entered the hotel Thursday and were preparing to take away four or five journalists.

The elections definitely haven’t been playing out according to Mugabe’s script. If you’re positioning yourself to steal a runoff, a good first step would be to lock up anyone who might call you out.

Update: One of the arrested journalists is reportedly the NYT‘s Barry Bearak.

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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