Police attack reporters covering protest in northwestern Syria
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the authorities in an opposition-controlled part of northwestern Syria to ensure that the police who attacked four reporters covering a protest by lawyers at the courthouse in the town of Al-Rai, in the north of Aleppo governorate, are brought to justice without delay.
The four journalists were physically attacked by police and then arrested while covering a demonstration on 18 December by lawyers demanding an independent judicial system and the resignation of the Syrian Interim Government, which controls this part of northwestern Syria and opposes the government in Damascus.
The journalists – Syria TV reporter Humam Al-Zein, Syria TV cameraman Nizar Zabin, Al-Arabiya video-reporter Malath Al-Homsi and freelancer Fares Zain Al-Abidin – were freed after three hours thanks to the intervention of a few determined lawyers, and their equipment was returned to them, but their footage of the courthouse protest had been deleted.
In response to an outcry about the police violence, the interim government issued a statement in which it said it regretted the incident and would carry out an investigation. It also said it wanted to preserve press freedom and the right to demonstrate peacefully, but condemned calls for violence.
“These apologies no longer suffice,” Al-Zein told RSF. “This attack is not the first of its kind. We have been subjected to several of them by the so-called official institutions that claim to ensure respect for the law and to protect journalists.”
“The attack on the four journalists in Al-Rai and the deletion of their video reports reflects the grim reality that, in this country fragmented by war, journalists are often hounded. The climate of fear in which they live is unacceptable. Media professionals must be able to work freely. We demand that those responsible for these actions be brought to justice as quickly as possible so that these attacks do not go unpunished.
The attack on the journalists in Al-Rai began as they were about to leave the court building. “We were surprised by armed individuals in civilian clothes who told us that media personnel were forbidden to leave through this door [the main door], that we had to leave by another one,” Al-Zein told RSF. “It was just a pretext to arrest us and confiscate our equipment.”
When the journalists refused to follow them, more police arrived, beat Zabin (the Syria TV cameraman), arrested him and seized his equipment. They then also insulted and detained the other three reporters, traumatising them and hurting them physically.
The atmosphere at the protest, held shortly after midday in the courtyard of the court building in Al-Rai, was extremely tense because the protesters were vastly outnumbered by the many police officers sent to police it, RSF has learned.
At least 25 journalists are currently detained in Syria, where the environment is very hostile for media personnel. Nine journalists are still missing in Syria and 38 are still classified as hostages. These figures are among the highest in the world.
