LUSAKA, Jan 19 – Zambian police have arrested a journalist for inciting riots that saw two people killed at the weekend during secessionist demonstrations, a press official said on Wednesday.
Protesters fought running battles with police on Saturday in an area known as Barotseland, in the west of the country, where separatists argue that they have been overlooked by the government.
Nyambe Muyumbana, a reporter with Radio Lyambai, a local privately-run station, was arrested on Tuesday night and has yet to be charged, Daniel Sikazwe, chairman of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), told AFP.
"He has spent a night in the police cells. The police are saying Muyumbana aired programmes that were meant to incite the public to rise against the authorities," Sikazwe said.
The government has since ordered Radio Lyambai to stop broadcasting, claiming the station was "propagating the autonomy of the western province from the rest of Zambia."
Police reinforcements from the capital were deployed to restore order in Mongu, about 600 kilometres (370 miles) west of Lusaka, where the clashes took place.
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