Libyan TV crew attacked outside parliament

LIBYA

04 Feb 2013

Journalist Casualties: 0
Media Staff Casualties: 0
Under Investigation: 0

Security guards at the Libyan parliament have attacked crew members from the independent television network, Alassema, according to reports.

Director of the channel’s press office, Fethi Ben Aissa said: “A team from [Alassema] went to cover a meeting of the national assembly on Friday, entering as they were permitted to.”

“After interviewing an MP, the team was assaulted by plain clothes guards of the General National Congress,” he said, noting “the public prosecutor has decided to open an inquiry into the incident.”

Dozens of journalists joined together to issue a joint statement in which they noted: “this act of aggression essentially constitutes an attack on freedom of the media and is a return to the era of the stifling of the press.”

The journalists have called for “the creation of a journalist union...to ensure the defence of people’s rights to obtain correct and timely information from different media outlets.”

A video of the attack has been met with anger and outrage by journalists and others, who have expressed their concerns about the state of media freedom in Libya.

Independent news outlets have also condemned the attack on the Alassema journalists.

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Source: Doha Centre for Media Freedom