Programs: Spotlight, 25 August, 2008

Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

Rustam Arifdzhanov, journalist

1958 - Born in Uzbekistan
1980 - Graduates, Baku State University
1985 - Correspondent, Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper
1988 - Department editor, Sobesednik weekly
1990 - Department editor, Megapolis magazine
1991 - Editor-in-chief, Megapolis-Metro newspaper
1993 - Observer, Izvestiya newspaper
1996 - Chief correspondent, Sovershenno Sekretno. Versiya weekly
1998 - Deputy editor-in-chief, Izvestiya newspaper
1998 - Chief editor, Sovershenno Sekretno. Versiya weekly
1999 - Editor-in-chief, Severshenno Sekretno information and publishing group
2003 - President, Sovershenno Sekretno group of companies
2004 - Founder, National Information and Publishing Holding
2004 - Editor-in-chief, National magazine

Today we will talk about Zimbabwe. A presidential election was held in this African country on June 27 this year. According to the official results, Robert Mugabe, the strongman who has been ruling the country since 1980 was re-elected for a new term. But the opposition claims that the election was blatantly rigged. This allegation, as well as the facts of the intimidation of opponents, provoked an outcry in the Western capitals, though rather milder response in the African ones. We’ll discuss the situation with one of the few journalists who's had an opportunity to interview the Zimbabwean leader, Rustam Arifdzhanov.