BEIRUT: A series of condemnations were issued Monday against attacks on journalists during Sunday’s anti-sectarian rally in Sidon, with caretaker Information Minister Tarek Mitri calling on politicians to tell their supporters not to attack politicians.
The Lebanese Press Syndicate issued a statement reproaching “the unjustified and disgraceful aggression” of a number of demonstrators who beat and harassed journalists and photographers, obstructing their ability to report.
The statement also expressed the syndicate’s surprised at the irresponsible and mob-like behavior of demonstrators supporting democracy and the toppling of the sectarian regime.
“Photographers and journalists are there to serve and report this movement and others in order to deliver the image and the real voice of every movement or demonstration,” the syndicate said.
They called for “full solidarity with all the colleagues that were aggressed” and requested that the organizers bear responsibility for the material losses resulting from the damage to photography equipment.
The syndicate warned all protesters across Lebanon that in the case of future aggression against reporters, the group would not be satisfied with condemnatory statements but would instead resort to legal means to defend its rights.
“We will no longer be silent about any aggression by any party against a press photographer,” the statement said.
The Journalists Union also released a statement Monday condemning the attacks. The statement announced that the harm caused to the media was a negative reflection upon the national unity stance of the demonstrators and distorted the image of the movement, which has so far been shown in a largely positive light by the press.
The union held the rally’s organizers responsible for the breakdown of order, as well as for the obstruction of the media’s role. They requested a public apology to the journalists, in addition to a clear and explicit promise from organizers to respect the law and allow the media to cover protests freely in the future.
The union also said that it will not be silent about any violence against the media, regardless of the aggressors’ affiliations.
Mitri, meanwhile, denounced the “recurrence of attacks against media persons [performing] their professional duty.”
Mitri called on political forces to ask their supporters to refrain from assaulting journalists in any circumstance and called on the security and judicial forces to hunt down the perpetrators of such violence.
Media watchdog Samir Kassir Eyes also issued a statement condemning the attacks and called for universal respect for the rights of the press.
At the rally in Sidon Sunday demonstrators attacked Al-Manar cameraman, Amin Shumar, destroying his camera. They also punched The Daily Star correspondent Mohammed Zaatari, who was trying to protect his colleague.
The altercation between the demonstrators and press occurred after the protesters refused to allow the media to cover a fight that broke out between rival factions in the protest, divided over the presence at the march of Liberation and Development bloc member, MP Qassem Hashem. – The Daily Star
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