Libertarianz Party leader Peter Cresswell continued to condemn Helen Clark's inability to speak out about human rights abuses in Zimbabwe - a fellow member of the Commonwealth with whose leader, Robert Mugabe, she will no doubt be rubbing shoulders at Brisbane's CHOGM conference.

"When Marxist dictator Mugabe's thugs started to once again escalate the violence Clark was struck dumb for once in her lifetime. When newspaper editor Geoff Nyarota was arrested for reporting how government police are involved in the attacks neither Clark, nor any other member of her coalition government - which pretends to support human rights - had anything to say. And now things are getting even worse."

Not only have foreign journalists been expelled from Zimbabwe, said Cresswell, but "now it appears the Mugabe dictatorship is preparing a hit list of journalists to bump off before the up-coming presidential election. The members of this hit list deserve the protection of an international spotlight being thrown on Mugabe - this is the least Clark can do."

Cresswell noted that Zimbabwe's "Standard" newspaper reported that members of Mugabe's infamous intelligence service have admitted that the regime has prepared a list of journalists to be 'punished.' "This Marxist regime has targeted Basildon Peta of the Financial Gazette, Nyarota, Iden Wetherell of the Independent, and Mark Chavunduka of the Standard."

The Standard reported one intelligence source as saying: "We are closely monitoring the movements of these journalists. This is a serious project and there will be casualties, so be warned.

Zimbabwe's Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, a South African university professor, has said that the government will "deal with" journalists who "collude" with foreign media. But Minister Moyo refused to say exactly what Mugabe had in mind.

Cresswell said: "A free press is absolutely necessary to a free society. Helen Clark should know this or go back to school until she does. But then what do expect from a government that thinks they have to right to control what music should be played on private radio stations?" "Once again Clark remains silent and once again it appears that the reason is that she really doesn't disagree with Mugabe in principle, only in degree."

"Helen Clark is simply mute when it comes to Left-wing dictatorships," notes Cresswell. "That is no doubt due to her intellectual afffinity for these people, and her own intellectual history. If these abuses were being carried out by some Right-wing government we wouldn't be able to get her to shut up about it."

The Libertarianz Party has called again for Zimbabwe's expulsion from the Commonwealth to take immediate effect. "Refugees from Zimbabwe have been welcomed to New Zealand and we applaud this. And they certainly should think seriously about why Helen Clark has yet to condemn the violence and human rights abuse being perpetrated by Mugabe. In fact this shouldn't just concern these refugees," concludes Cresswell. "It should concern all of us. And we should keep up the pressure until Helen finds her voice or explains her silence."

It's enough to make you vote Libertarianz!

ENDS

For more information contact:

Peter Cresswell LIBERTARIANZ LEADER (025) 861 927, organon@ihug.co.nz

www.libertarianz.org.nz

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