(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned a physical attack on 12 June 2006 on two employees of the “Timor Post” outside its premises in the capital, Dili. The newspaper, the country’s leading independent daily, had previously received threats from supporters of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. A Timorese reporter working for the Associated Press was […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned a physical attack on 12 June 2006 on two employees of the “Timor Post” outside its premises in the capital, Dili. The newspaper, the country’s leading independent daily, had previously received threats from supporters of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. A Timorese reporter working for the Associated Press was also briefly detained by Australian peacekeepers.
“Many journalists have been the victims of physical attacks, threats and arrests since the start of the mutiny by soldiers opposed to the government,” the press freedom organisation said. “The prime minister’s supporters are suspected of targeting independent news media. We deplore this violence, which is obstructing the work of the press, and we call on the UN mission charged with investigating the recent violence to include attacks on the press in its enquiries.”
During the 12 June incident, a group of youths threw stones at two “Timor Post” employees working in its marketing and distribution sections. Editor Carlos de Jesus said the violence could be linked to recent reports it had published that were critical of the prime minister.
Most of the “Timor Post”‘s employees went into hiding on 23 May for fear of reprisals, while publication of both the “Timor Post” and the “Suara Timor Lorosae”, another daily, was suspended for several days. An army officer close to the prime minister went to the “Timor Post”‘s offices on 24 May to threaten its journalists.
Reporters Without Borders also called on the officers in charge of the Australian peace-keeping force to remind their troops not to restrict the freedom of movement of both Timorese and foreign journalists. José Belo, an AP stringer in East Timor, was manhandled and detained for four hours by Australian soldiers in Dili on 10 June. The AP said they treated him in a “violent and disrespectful” manner. Belo told Reporters Without Borders that the Australian soldiers never told him why he had been arrested.
Reporters Without Borders had the following to say about East Timor in its annual report on developments during 2005: “The government of Mari Alkatiri, visibly angered by media independence, tried to bring the privately-owned daily Suara Timor Lorosae in line in February by calling for a boycott of the newspaper and evicting it from its offices.”
The report added: “In December, the prime minister initiated a reform of the criminal code, penalising press offences. Journalists will face up to three years in prison for defamation of anyone in a public authority role, a backward step that was condemned by many journalists. This tougher line came after various voices were raised to condemn poor governance of the country.”
