# Claim 482

Information Minister Mutsvangwa said the law covered meetings intended to injure the country's sovereignty rather than ordinary journalistic work.

Published 2026-09-22. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 1 source.

- Statement: Information Minister Mutsvangwa said the law covered meetings intended to injure the country's sovereignty rather than ordinary journalistic work.
- Field: stated_justification
- Value: Minister says the law targets sovereignty threats, not journalism
- About: [incident 2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact](https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2023-zimbabwe-patriotic-act-criminalizes-foreign-contact)
- Source: CPJ calls for Zimbabwe president to reject 'Patriot Bill' threatening critical journalism. https://cpj.org/2023/07/cpj-calls-for-zimbabwe-president-to-reject-patriot-bill-threatening-critical-journalism/
- Publisher: Committee to Protect Journalists
- Method: outlet report
- Checked: 2026-09-22
- Confidence: medium
- Status: current
- Source date: 2023-07-03

## Quotation from the source

> the bill did not criminalize journalists' work in Zimbabwe but barred meetings with foreign governments...that have 'the intention to injure the sovereignty.'

Source page: https://thewaronnews.com/claims/482. The War On News, CC BY 4.0.