Police detain newspaper editors in tax row

Zambian police detained three people including two editors of a newspaper critical of the government that was shut down last week, as tensions rose in the run up to elections in August.
The Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) shut down the Post newspaper last week, demanding $6 million in unpaid taxes but the newspaper accused the authorities of trying to silence it, and claimed the outstanding bill was part of a court dispute. Tax officials have not commented on the matter, but Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Monday defended the ZRA’s action, saying it did so to recoup unpaid taxes.
On Tuesday, the Post’s managing editor Joan Chirwa said police arrested its editor-in-chief Fred Mmembe, his wife Mutinta and deputy managing editor Joseph Mwenda late on Monday.