New York Times freelancer on trial in Zimbabwe

A freelance reporter for The New York Times newspaper is on trial in Zimbabwe after being charged with violating immigration laws by helping two colleagues get permission to work in the country in May 2021.

Jeffrey Moyo, a Zimbabwean, has denied the charge against him.

He faces up to 10 years in prison if the court in Bulawayo city finds him guilty.

The New York Times said Moyo was being put on trial on "a charge that even the government acknowledged at one point to be practically baseless".

The Zimbabwean authorities say the two of the paper's journalists, Christina Goldbaum and Joao Silva, were given visas on the strength of bogus papers, and they were deported shortly after the discovery.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: RSF Twitter