(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Lebanese Interior Minister Elias el-Murr, RSF protested a police attack on six journalists at the site of a disaster on 23 March 2002. “An investigation must be launched to shed light on this deplorable act that comes just a few days before the Arab League summit in Beirut,” said […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Lebanese Interior Minister Elias el-Murr, RSF protested a police attack on six journalists at the site of a disaster on 23 March 2002. “An investigation must be launched to shed light on this deplorable act that comes just a few days before the Arab League summit in Beirut,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. “It is our understanding that these journalists were attacked while doing their job.” RSF asked the minister to ensure that those responsible are identified and punished. The organisation also called on him to implement measures that will allow Lebanese journalists to work in absolute safety.
On 23 March, at around 12:00 p.m. (local time), Wael Ladki, photographer from the daily “As Safir”, Ali Lamaa, photographer from “Al Sharq”, Muhamed Assi, from “An Nahar”, Samir and Said Baytamouni, from the LBC television station, and Khalil Hassan from “The Daily Star”, were assaulted by police at the site of a building that had just collapsed, killing four people, in Beirut’s Marzraa neighbourhood.
Wael Ladki said that several policemen hit him in the face while he was taking pictures of the scene from atop a bulldozer with permission from a police captain. Ali Lamaa stated that they pushed him “very roughly” to make him come down off the bulldozer. He added that the flash from Khalil Hassan’s camera was damaged and his film seized.
