Zimbabwe plans to relax security and media laws

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's strict security and media laws criticised by opponents as undemocratic will be relaxed by the end of the year, an official document showed on Monday.

The unity government formed last year by President Robert Mugabe and his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has stabilised the economy but has yet to implement many of its agreed political reforms.

The fragile coalition has been marred by policy differences between Mugabe's ZANU-PF and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) but its new programme sets a target of the end of this year to repeal and amend contentious security and media legislation.

Mugabe's critics say the president, who has ruled since 1980, has used the laws to keep opponents in check and extend his stay in power and foreign donors have withheld funding until the new government implements political reforms.

The government plans to introduce at least 17 amendments to laws including the Public Order and Security Act, which police have used to ban protests by the opposition and unions, a document seen by Reuters on Monday shows.

The changes will also repeal the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, used to ban foreign journalists from working permanently in the country.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

A Freedom of Information Bill allowing journalists greater access to official information will be introduced, while a Media Practitioners' Bill will be tabled in Parliament to regulate the conduct of journalists.