The New York Times reporter Barry Bearak was arrested in Zimbabwe on April 3, 2008 while staying there to cover the recent presidential election. No further information has been made available on Bearak's status since he was taken by police from the Harare hotel at which he was staying. The offices of the Movement for Democratic Change, who had opposed current president Robert Mugabe in the election, were raided on the same day as the Bearak arrest. (Mugabe's Party lost control of the parliament for the first time since Zimbabwe declared independence 28 years ago).
Bearak had won a 2002 Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from Afghanistan. He currently serves as the Times' South African bureau chief. His wife, Celia Dugger, is also a staff writer for the Times.
Fast Facts:
Barry Bearak News and Blogs
- Topix.net: Barry Bearak
- Google News: Barry Bearak
- New York Times: Times Reporter Out of Zimbabwe Jail (April 7, 2008)
- The Plank (The New Republic): Only the Beginning (April 4, 2008)
- The New York Times: New Signs of Mugabe Crackdown in Zimbabwe (April 4, 2008)
- Committee to Protect Journalists: CPJ alarmed at detention of New York Times correspondent (April 3, 2008)
- World News Australia: Foreign journalists arrested in Zimbabwe (April 4, 2008)
- The New York Times: "Mugabe Foes Win Majority in Zimbabwe" by Barry Bearak (April 3, 2008)
- Editor and Publisher: 'NY Times' Scribe Withholds Byline on Page One Story -- Then OKs It (April 2, 2008)
- Bearak had initially been hesitant to run his byline on his Page One story about President Mugabe for security reasons. He eventually did approve the use of his name on the story, though the photographer whose work was featured in the story was not credited.
- Hot Air: Mugabe meltdown in Zimbabwe (April 3, 2008)
- Google Blog Search: Barry Bearak
