Zimbabwe
First Lady assaults British photogPosted Feb 7 2009
Zimbabwe’s First Lady Grace Mugabe allegedly assaulted a British photographer as he took photographs of her coming out of a Hong Kong hotel Jan. 18, AFP reported. Mugabe flew into a rage when she saw Richard Jones, a freelancer for the UK-based Sunday Times, shooting pictures of her as she left the five-star Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel with a friend. Mugabe allegedly ordered her bodyguard to take Jones’ camera and hold him down while she punched him repeatedly in the face. Jones characterized Mugabe as “deranged” and said her large, diamond-encrusted rings inflicted extra damage as she hit him.
Jones was shooting for a story on how the first lady—or first shopper, as she’s known by some—has enough money to shop in luxury stores and stay in five-star hotels while half of Zimbabwe is being fed by international aid, and a cholera epidemic has claimed more than 3,000 people.
Mugabe was in Hong Kong visiting her daughter, who goes to school in the Chinese city. After the attack, Mugabe tried to flee but ran into yet another photographer, at which point she went back into the hotel.
More information
- The Zimbabwe Times