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Image header Agence Europe
Europe Daily Bulletin No. 9739
Contents Publication in full By article 10 / 29
THE DAY IN POLITICS / (eu) eu/press freedom

International press concerned at Spanish legal practices

Brussels, 11/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned a new violation of freedom of the press in Spain, where a judge at a court in Arrecife decided on Thursday 11 September 2008 to force a freelance reporter to testify in a case concerning human trafficking. The IFJ points out that the European Convention of Human Rights and European Court of Justice rulings protect freedom of the press and the confidentiality of sources. The journalist in question, Dutch national Joel Van Houdt, was arrested by the Spanish authorities on a boat with undocumented immigrants, where he was preparing a report on human trafficking between Morocco and Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. The memory card from his digital camera was confiscated. Interrogated for hours by the Spanish police, he refused to name the boat's captain and carefully avoided taking photographs of him to protect his anonymity. (O.J./transl.fl)

 

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