Andrew Meldrum

Andrew Meldrum (born 1951) is an American reporter and journalist. He was The Economist magazine and the The Guardian newspaper correspondent in Zimbabwe from 1980 to May 2003 before being illegally expelled by the Zimbabwean government because the government objected to his reports exposing state torture. [cite web |url=http://economist.com/background/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1796226 |title= Zimbabwe evicts our correspondent |accessdate=2007-04-10 |format=html |work=The Economist ]

Biography

Meldrum studied history at Middlebury College [cite web |url=http://www.cid.harvard.edu/events/events_pages/051027grad.html |title=Biography |accessdate=2007-04-10 |format=html |work=Center for International Development, Harvard University ] and got a Masters degree from Columbia University School of Journalism in 1977. [cite web |url=http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/cs/ContentServer/jrn/1165270072008/JRN_Profile_C/1175295300880/JRNProfileDetail.htm |title=Profile in Journalism|accessdate=2008-07-16 |format=html]

In 2004 Meldrum won the Schork Award for "courageous international journalism" from Columbia University. In his career and stay in Zimbabwe, he wrote a book called "Where We Have Hope: A Memoir of Zimbabwe" which talks about his 23 years stay. [cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/correspondents/0,,1767637,00.html |title=Foreign correspondent biographies |accessdate=2007-04-10 |format=html |work=The Guardian ]

He is currently attending Harvard University as a prestigious Neiman Fellow with the Neiman Foundation for Journalism where he is doing research on the role of the press in Zimbabwe and South Africa. [ [http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/ Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University ] ]

Arrest and deportation

In May 2002, Meldrum was briefly jailed after the Zimbabwean government charged him with violating a statute against "publishing a falsehood" for writing that an elderly woman was decapitated by Mugabe supporters (Zanu-PF) in front of her two young children. The decapitation claim was retracted and allegedly fabricated by the woman's husband. The correspondent was later acquitted, only to receive a deportation order. [cite web |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article184425.ece |title= Zimbabwe reporter is acquitted and ordered to leave |accessdate=2007-04-10 |format=html |work=The Independent ] In a second legal case, a judge ruled that Meldrum, as the holder of a permit of permanent residence, had the legal right to stay and work in the country.

In May, 2003, Meldrum was abducted by Zimbabwean authorities and illegally expelled from Zimbabwe to South Africa where he continued to write for The Guardian on Zimbabwe. His lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, had obtained court orders allowing him to remain in the country but he was abducted by police and detained before leaving Zimbabwe. [cite web |url=http://www.ak-sophiabooks.org/Af%2042_1.htm |title= Freedom prize for Zimbabwe lawyer |accessdate=2007-04-10 |format=html |work=ak-sophiabooks.org ]

Bibliography

* "Where We Have Hope: A Memoir of Zimbabwe" - ISBN 0871138964
* "Zimbabwe's battle for press freedom" - An article from: World Literature Today

External links

* [http://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Andrew_Meldrum.jsp "Articles by Meldrum] - OpenDemocracy.net
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/zimbabwe/subsectionmenu/0,,960624,00.html "Andrew Meldrum's video diary"] - Guardian

References