(IPI/IFEX) – On 16 June 1998, four journalists, including two photographers, were hospitalised with serious injuries after they were attacked at the additional District Court in Kollam, Kerala state, by activists of the ruling Marxist Communist Party (CPM). Police reportedly stayed away from the court premises until the attack was over. The hospitalised journalists are […]
(IPI/IFEX) – On 16 June 1998, four journalists, including two photographers,
were hospitalised with serious injuries after they were attacked at the
additional District Court in Kollam, Kerala state, by activists of the
ruling Marxist Communist Party (CPM). Police reportedly stayed away from the
court premises until the attack was over.
The hospitalised journalists are Tony Dominic of the daily “Malayala
Monorama”; Josey George of the daily “Deepika”; Chandra Bose of the daily
“Mathrubhumi”; and P. Manoj, also of “Mathrubhumi”. The journalists had been
at the court to report on the verdict in a double murder case in which CPM
activists were charged with the murder of two political opponents. The court
found three of the accused guilty of the offence.
The attack on the journalists began when the photographers tried to take
pictures of the accused as they were brought to the court under police
escort. The crowd outside the court seized the cameras from the
photographers and destroyed them, brutally beating both the photographers
and the reporters who tried to retrieve them.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
which appears to have been premeditated
incident so that
those responsible are brought to justice
journalists working in Kerala
Appeals To
Mr. E.K. Nayanar
Chief Minister of Kerala
Government Secretariat
Trivandrum, Kerala
India
Fax: +91471 333 489
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
