In May 2002, Meldrum was briefly jailed after the Zimbabwean government charged him with violating a statute against "publishing a falsehood" for reporting a man's claims that his wife was decapitated by Mugabe supporters (
Zanu-PF) in front of her two young children. It later became evident that the man had fabricated the decapitation story. Meldrum's trial lasted two months and he could have faced two years in jail. He was defended by Zimbabwean lawyer
Beatrice Mtetwa. Meldrum was acquitted and the magistrate ruled that he had acted as a responsible journalist, only to receive a deportation order. In a second legal case, a judge ruled that Meldrum, as the holder of a permit of permanent residence, had the legal right to stay and work in the country. Meldrum continued his work and exposed how a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was beaten in police custody and later died. On May 18, 2003, Meldrum was abducted by Zimbabwean authorities and illegally expelled from Zimbabwe to
South Africa where he continued to write for The Guardian on Zimbabwe and events in southern Africa. His lawyer,
Beatrice Mtetwa, had obtained court orders allowing him to remain in the country but he was abducted by police and detained before being forcibly expelled from Zimbabwe. ==Bibliography==