Dutch Embassy Press Release on the shooting of Pieter Zwanikken
Information for the press (on request)
1. Late Monday afternoon (17.12.12) a 50-year-old Dutch man shot was shot
in Banket, Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe. The man is in the hospital.
2. The man has a farm where he grows tobacco. Three armed men came to the
farm to demand his harvest. When the man refused, he was shot.
3. Two suspects have been arrested.
4. The embassy in Harare has contact with the family of the man and will
visit him in hospital.
5. The embassy is in contact with the police and has also drawn attention
of other local authorities to the case, including the Ministry of
Agriculture and the Joint Monitoring Commission, which examines cases of
(political) violence in Zimbabwe.
6. The ambassador had just visited the farm on 14.12.12 because it had
been under threat to be taken over by others. The ambassador had already
intervened with the local authorities on behalf of this Dutch investor.
7. The position of white farmers in Zimbabwe remains shaky. Many
thousands have lost their possessions, but still there are hundreds who are
active as farmers in Zimbabwe. Virtually all of them now work on smaller
pieces of land, sometimes no longer as owner, but only as a co-owner or as a
contractor.
8. At present, there are two other Dutch investors of whom it is known
that their investments are threatened.
9. The Dutch embassy in Zimbabwe will pursue the interests of Dutch
citizens and businesses, amongst others by appealing to Zimbabwean
authorities and by supporting organizations that strive to combat
(political) violence.