Harare, Oct 25: Zimbabwe police raided the Harare home of the Chief Executive of the Daily News, the country's only independent daily, and arrested his niece, the paper's legal adviser told reporters. "Nine police officers raided (Samuel) Nkomo's house about an hour ago (1030 IST yesterday)," Gugulethu Moyo told reporters. "They've arrested his niece at his home."
She said Tulepi Nkomo, who is believed to be in her thirties and is not connected with the daily news, was to be detained overnight in a police station under the country's security laws.
The raid came hours after police in Harare arrested around 18 employees of the daily news just after the paper reappeared on the streets for the first time in more than a month.
Police also visited the homes of three other of the paper's nine directors, Moyo added. No other arrests had been made so far.
The Daily News was shut down by police early in September after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally. The paper was subsequently denied a licence by the state-appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC).
But a court on Friday ruled that the commission had to issue the popular daily with a licence.
Samuel Nkomo is related to a government minister, John Nkomo, who is also the chairman of President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party.
Bureau Report