(RSF/IFEX) – On 22 March 2003, while covering a demonstration against the war in Iraq, Islam Salih, a journalist with the Qatar-based satellite television station Al-Jazeera, and his cameraman Mohammed el Hassan were struck by several police officers. “We call on the Khartoum authorities to allow the Sudanese and foreign press to freely cover demonstrations […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 22 March 2003, while covering a demonstration against the war in Iraq, Islam Salih, a journalist with the Qatar-based satellite television station Al-Jazeera, and his cameraman Mohammed el Hassan were struck by several police officers.
“We call on the Khartoum authorities to allow the Sudanese and foreign press to freely cover demonstrations taking place in the capital. We are also concerned by the growing number of journalists being summoned for ‘overstepping limits’,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard.
On 22 March, Salih and el Hassan were struck by several police officers while covering a student demonstration against the war in Iraq, near the American embassy. Although Salih identified himself to a police officer as an Al-Jazeera journalist, the officer and his colleagues continued to beat him and his cameraman on the knees with truncheons. El Hassan finally managed to flee with his equipment, and the footage was later broadcast.
Also on 22 March, Hayder Al Mukashfi, a journalist from the daily “Al-Ayyam”, was interrogated by members of the security services. One of the officers told him that what he was writing “overstepped the limits.” The officer warned, “For the time being, we are at the stage where we advise you to change what you have written.” Al Mukashfi writes a column in the paper called “Transparency”.
