N.Z. journalist out of Zambian prison

Press, 26 December 1986, Page 4

N.Z. journalist out of Zambian prison

NZPA-Reuter Harare The New Zealand journalist, John Edlin, arrived in Harare for Christmas after being detained in Zambia' for six days and then deported. Edlin, aged 41, is based in Zimbabwe where he works for the United States news agency, Associated Press. He was arrested last Friday in a Lusaka hotel and accused of being an illegal immigrant. He was previously expelled from Zambia in 1969, where he had worked on the “Times of Zambia,” but had returned several times since then on reporting trips without any problem. Edlin was in Zambia

covering the aftermath of food riots earlier this month. He was jailed in

what he described as medieval conditions with “many other foreigners” — mostly Africans. Most of the other detainees at Kamwala Remand Prison were from Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, Zaire, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Some had been held for up to four years awaiting deportation, he said. New Zealand, American, Australian and British diplomats were involved in efforts to free Edlin.

In 1982, the Associated Press applied to the Zambian Ministry of Information for permission for Edlin to cover events in that country. The request was granted.