Regime thugs attack Nation newspaper offices
Thugs suspected to to be ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) operatives broke into the offices of the Nation Publications Limited at Hannover in the central district of Blantyre on the night of Tuesday.
The thugs broke into the building through the window of the Human Resource Manager and took his computer. They also searched through personnel files of employees.
The regime thugs also took another computer for the secretary to the chief executive officer, Mbumba Banda.
“It is very strange to see how they broke into the building. The offices are on the fourth floor and they broke into the building through a window that high,” a security guard at the company told Nyasa Times.
Police have confirmed the break-in and said investigations were under way to trace the thugs.
The thugs are said to have been sent by some top officials in the DPP to deal with the company because it has been publishing stories too critical of government according to them.
President Bingu wa Mutharika has openly condemned Nation Publications as always critical of his government. He even said reporters at the paper have “worms in their brains”.
Government had also meted a ban on all its official advertising from the company’s titles the daily Nation, Weekend Nation, Nation on Sunday and FUKO, a fortnightly vernacular newspaper in Chichewa and Tumbuka. The ban was technically lifted.
A source in the corridors of power said the incident is part of government’s planned crackdown on private media.
DPP thugs recently also set ablaze a vehicle belonging to independent Zodiak Broadcasting Station and broke into their offices too.
