HARARE: The European Union has widened sanctions against Zimbabwe, publishing a list of 37 more individuals and four businesses subject to visa bans and asset freezes.
One of those included on the list for the first time is Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket. The additions take the total number of targeted individuals to 168. The EU release included Chingoka with the following short explanation. “Chief of the federation of cricket of Zimbabwe, having publicly supported the terror campaign carried out before and during the elections”. An important aspect of the action is that Switzerland and other European Free Trade Association countries also support it, so Chingoka will not be able to transit through any EFTA or EU countries. Chingoka has steadfastly denied that he has any links to the ruling regime of Robert Mugabe, and a decision last October to deny him a visa to enter the UK was shrouded in confusion. While government sources told Cricinfo that the visa had been refused because of evidence of links to the Zanu-PF government, the ICC apparently never asked Chingoka himself why he had been barred. —Agency