|
HARARA, Zimbabwe (AP) - A judge Friday acquitted two British journalists of overstaying their visas and ordered them deported following their arrest while covering Zimbabwe's disputed March 31 parliamentary elections.
On Thursday, Sunday Telegraph reporters Toby Harnden and Julian Simmonds had been acquitted of the more serious charge of working as journalists without accreditation, an offense that carries a two-year prison term.
They entered Zimbabwe on March 20 from Zambia and were given seven-day tourist visas. In his ruling Friday, Magistrate Never Diza said it was unclear whether Harnden and Simmonds were told when their visas expired, as no date was marked in their passports.
|