(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch, RSF protested Moscow police’s arrest of an Associated Press (AP) journalist and six Tibetan activists on 11 July 2001. “It is unacceptable that freedom of expression and information be scorned in this way, at the very time the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch, RSF protested Moscow police’s arrest of an Associated Press (AP) journalist and six Tibetan activists on 11 July 2001.
“It is unacceptable that freedom of expression and information be scorned in this way, at the very time the IOC is meeting to designate the host city for the 2008 Olympics. The arbitrary arrests in Moscow on 11 July give a foretaste of what the situation could be during the 2008 Olympics in China if the country is selected,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. “We ask you to publicly condemn these arrests and intercede with Russian authorities to ensure that the journalist and six demonstrators are immediately released,” added Ménard.
According to information obtained by RSF, on 11 July, Moscow riot police arrested six exiled Tibetans who were trying to unfurl a banner in front of the Ukrainia Hotel, opposite the World Trade Center, where the IOC meeting is to be held. They were doing this to protest Beijing’s candidacy for the 2008 Summer Olympics. According to Yangzom Brauen, an exiled Tibetan and Swiss citizen who took part in the demonstration, the banner showed the five Olympic rings as bullet holes. The Russian photographer working for AP, Maxim Marmur, who was covering the event, was also arrested.
RSF has organised a press and poster campaign against the possible selection of Beijing as host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics. “China: Gold medal for human rights violations” says the RSF poster, beneath the image of handcuffs in the form of the Olympic rings. Together with Solidarité Chine and the Comité de soutien au peuple tibétain, RSF sent a report on human rights violations in China to all IOC members. RSF activists have also carried out several actions against Beijing’s candidacy, including one during the Lausanne track meet on 4 July, and during a track meet at the Stade de France on 6 July. RSF representatives are currently in Moscow to express the organisation’s opinion.
