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Zimbabwe, whose staffers were arrested last week for allegedly distributing subversive material.
Three staffers at the organisation were arrested in Gwanda for conducting an unsanctioned meeting, while police also seized copies of compact discs and DVDs suspected to contain subversive material during a raid at MMPZ’s office in Harare.
MMPZ co-ordinator Andrew Moyse was picked for questioning and released on the same day.
It has since emerged that the organisation had been adding individuals and organisations to its mailing lists without their knowledge to create an impression of having a big constituency.
In a flurry of e-mails to the organisation, the concerned parties asked to be removed from the mailing list of MMPZ.
Some recipients panicked when they saw their comments being reproduced in The Herald after the newspaper received them through its e-mail.
The Herald did not apply for membership, but was added to the mailing list of MMPZ as a media organisation.
The recipients on the MMPZ list wrote to the organisation asking for their names to be removed stating that they did not apply for membership.
There were also messages of “solidarity” mainly from organisations and people who are associated with Western-sponsored civil society organisations.
When police swooped on MMPZ on Monday, the United States Embassy, along with several Western-funded civil society organisations accused Government of “cracking down” on the media.
US embassy officials said in a statement that they noted “with regret and concern the increased frequency of arrests and detention of media workers and civil society activists throughout 2011”.
Moyse was not available to comment as his phone was unreachable.
Online Reporter