(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Italian Minister of the Interior Enzo Bianco, RSF protested the police assault on Claudio Lippera, a journalist from the daily “Il Messaggero”, on 16 December 2000. “It is unacceptable that a journalist covering a demonstration would deliberately be struck, even after presenting his press card,” said Robert Ménard, the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Italian Minister of the Interior Enzo Bianco, RSF protested the police assault on Claudio Lippera, a journalist from the daily “Il Messaggero”, on 16 December 2000. “It is unacceptable that a journalist covering a demonstration would deliberately be struck, even after presenting his press card,” said Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “We ask that you see to it that the police officer responsible for the assault is punished,” added Ménard.
According to information collected by RSF, Lippera was struck by a police officer after presenting his press card at a demonstration. The journalist was covering the 16 December demonstration against the visit to Rome of Jörg Haider, governor of Carinthia and leader of the Austrian far-right party FPÖ, for the daily “Il Messaggero”. Lippera claims that the police officer told him: “I don’t care, you must leave” before striking him hard in the head. The journalist was hospitalised for several days as a result of the assault.
