British reporter expelled from Zimbabwe

A British journalist was deported from Zimbabwe on Thursday after being detained for eight nights and fined 20 billion Zimbabwe dollars (about $250), his newspaper said.

Jonathan Clayton, a correspondent for The Times, was arrested in the southern city of Bulawayo in the aftermath of elections last month.

The Times said Clayton had been cleared of the initial charges of falsifying immigration papers, but had been found guilty of charges related to the answers he had given to security officials under questioning.

In addition to the fine, Clayton was deported on a plane to South Africa.

"We're extremely relieved to have him out. It was ridiculous of the authorities to hold him in extremely unpleasant conditions and hold this farcical trial," Richard Beeston, the newspaper's foreign editor, told Reuters.

On Wednesday, a court in Harare acquitted another British reporter and an American reporter who had been charged with covering the March 29 election without accreditation. Authorities have limited access for international media.