(FXI/IFEX) – FXI calls on all journalists’ associations and unions to take action to ensure the safety of journalists reporting on the situation in Lesotho. Journalists were harrassed and some wounded during the rampage that recently occurred in the country. On 22 September 1998, Johannes Sefatsa, a cameraman for the South African Broadcasting Corporation was […]
(FXI/IFEX) – FXI calls on all journalists’ associations and unions to take
action to ensure the safety of journalists reporting on the situation in
Lesotho. Journalists were harrassed and some wounded during the rampage that
recently occurred in the country. On 22 September 1998, Johannes Sefatsa, a
cameraman for the South African Broadcasting Corporation was wounded.
Freelance photographer Greg Marinovich, a former Associated Press (AP)
photographer, was shot in the leg while covering the fighting. Later that
day, an AP correspondent and photographer as well as a British Broadcasting
Corporation cameraman were attacked by a stone-throwing mob. Less than an
hour later, they abandoned their car when it was raked with gunfire by
Basotho soldiers. Two cameramen from AP Television were hijacked. A mob
threw a rock through the window of a car driven by Alex Duval Smith, a
reporter for “The Guardian”.
On 23 September, “The Time” correspondent Sam Kiley was wounded by gunfire.
Bop TV reporter Mark Klusener and cameraman Biron Tayoor were hijacked at
gunpoint and some of their equipment was taken.
FXI calls on all parties to respect the role of journalists and ensure that
they are given maximum protection and are not harmed because they are
unarmed non-combatants carrying out their professional duties of keeping the
public informed.
