BBC Presenter Arrested in Zimbabwe

Petroc Trelawny

A British man believed to have travelled to Zimbabwe as a charity volunteer has been charged with allegedly ‘working without a permit’ after his arrest in the country last week.

Petroc Trelawny, who works for the UK’s BBC as a classical music presenter was officially charged over the weekend after his arrest last Thursday. According to UK media reports, he was admitted to hospital on Sunday with a shoulder injury he received after slipping on a wet floor in prison.

Trelawny was arrested after compering at a music concert in Bulawayo. His friends have told UK based media groups that he was in the country doing charity work for underprivileged children.

According to the Telegraph newspaper, Trelawny was not working for the BBC while in Zimbabwe, but he travelled to the country on behalf of The British Friends of the Zimbabwe Academy of Music, a charitable organisation he founded.

His lawyers were quoted as saying that it was hoped he would be released and deported back to the UK as early as Monday.

(Source : SW Radio Africa, London)