Men jailed for violating broadcast law

HARARE, Zimbabwe, June 4 (UPI) -- A court in Zimbabwe has sentenced three South African men to six months in prison for transporting equipment for Britain's Sky News, a reporters' group said.

The three drivers were arrested at a police roadblock on charges of "unauthorized possession of TV broadcast equipment," Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday.

The press freedom organization is calling for judicial authorities to release the three men.

"The Zimbabwean authorities stop at nothing to control and punish foreign news media and anyone else who is liable to draw attention to the disastrous situation in the country," says Reporters Without Borders.

In addition to six months in prison, the three men were sentenced to six weeks for entering Zimbabwe without passports.