The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that journalists in Zimbabwe face the harshest press crackdown in memory as they’ve tried to report on a brutally violent presidential runoff campaign, veteran reporters told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a report released today, Bad to Worse in Zimbabwe.

Embattled President Robert Mugabe and his administration have used obsolete laws, trumped-up charges and retaliatory measures to detain at least 15 journalists, intimidate sources, and obstruct independent news coverage, the report finds. “This is the worst time for journalists in Zimbabwe’s history,” exiled Zimbabwean reporter Geoff Hill told CPJ. On Sunday, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) withdrew from a runoff scheduled for Friday, saying he could not ask supporters to cast a ballot when “that vote could cost them their lives.”