'Arrest in Zimbabwe was not sinister' - BBC presenter

by Staff reporter

2012 June 09 15:36:32 | 1731 Views

Classic music presenter Petroc Trelawny today revealed that the same official who arrested him had earlier stamped his passport and assured him that he would be "welcome" back in Zimbabwe.

The BBC Radio 3 presenter said he believes he could have been released earlier if he had agreed to be deported but that he wanted to leave the country with his "head held high".

Speaking on Radio 5 Live, he said: "The immigration officer who arrested me I saw twice actually â€“once when I went to get my passport and then in fact he was on duty at the airport the next day so he stamped me out the country and we shook hands on both occasions and he assured me on both occasions that I would be very welcome back in Zimbabwe any time.

"That the matter was over and had been sorted so in theory I left with my head held high.

"There might have been an option earlier in the week to just go and be deported but clearly I didn't want that to happen because I want to be able to go back and continue the projects that we're working on there.

"Also it's a country I love, it's a beautiful country."

He also said that he did not believe his arrest had "sinister" motives but that it was the result of a "misunderstanding".

He said: "Clearly there was a concern at the beginning that because I work for the BBC, although the BBC's no longer banned in Zimbabwe, it's still the whole issue of visiting journalists there have to get visas and they put a lot of hoops up for visiting journalists to go through.

"I thought that might be part of it. On the Saturday one of the papers around town said BBC reporter arrested. And of course it's a very difficult thing to explain to people abroad that the BBC is not just a news organisation...I don't think there was any sinister issue behind it, I think it was basically a misunderstanding."

BBC Presenter Arrest

Source: www.thisislondon.co.uk