The regime announced on 13 April that censorship restrictions would be relaxed for the election period, but would remain fully in force for the domestic Rhodesian press. Foreign correspondents were authorised to file copy and video material relating to the elections without first having to clear it with officials or military personnel. They were nevertheless urged to use "discretion" in handling information.
A foreign correspondent based in Salisbury for 19 months, Mr. Paul Ellman, was charged on 3 May under a section of the Emergency Powers Regulations covering press articles considered likely to cause "alarm and despondency". Mr. Ellman, correspondent for the London Observer and Guardian, said that the matter related to an article in the Observer at the end of 1978.
