The Covid-19 pandemic “has exacerbated an alarming trend: violence against journalists is on the rise”, warns the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, in an article published on Friday 30 April.
Attackers, she says, can be protesters themselves (often conspiratorial or opposed to health measures) as well as infiltrated groups. This was the case in Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Portugal.
Ms Mijatović stressed, “assemblies should be preserved as places for democratic debate and discussion ” that are essential in times of crisis and it is crucial that journalists report on them without giving in to self-censorship generated by fear of attacks and reprisals.
“This trend is all the more worrying when it is the police themselves who carry out the attacks”, the Commissioner points out, citing France in particular.
She therefore calls on the authorities to put in place investigations and punishments while promoting cooperation between police and journalists to avoid friction and confrontation. In Austria, for example, media contact officers are responsible for media relations at events.
Ms Mijatović also stressed the need for training, both for police officers, who should be informed about the role of journalists, and for journalists themselves, who should be made aware of what is involved in covering public demonstrations.
Link to article: https://bit.ly/3365tfu (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)