Protesters denounce attack on journalists

By Hani Hazaimeh

AMMAN - Some 200 people gathered at the Jordan Press Association (JPA) headquarters on Monday to denounce an attack on journalists by riot police on Friday.

The protesters carried banners that read "The media want to try the assailants and those who gave the orders” and “Condemnation and apologies are not enough and will not stop us from seeking justice”.

The protest was preceded by a JPA council meeting during which the members discussed how to bring an end to assaults on journalists.

Last Friday, riot police allegedly attacked journalists covering the first open-ended sit-in in the Kingdom since that of March 24, which also ended in violence and witnessed attacks against reporters.

Friday’s protest attracted some 300 local and international journalists, who almost outnumbered the pro-reform protesters.

Despite a series of preventative measures taken by police and media organizations to protect journalists, including the issuance of orange vests and an instant hotline to lodge complaints, the first hour of what was to be a peaceful sit-in soon witnessed attacks on members of the press, according to journalists.

Media activists said 20 journalists were injured and around 15 sent to hospital.

“The JPA will pursue legal action to prosecute those responsible for the attack on our colleagues,” JPA President Tareq Momani told The Jordan Times yesterday, adding that the JPA council called on all journalists who were attacked by the police to file a complaint.

“We want an independent ad hoc investigation committee to identify those responsible for the attack to bring them to justice. We also want to be part of any investigation and we want a daily update of the procedures,” he said at the protest, which also saw the participation of Hamzah Mansour, secretary general of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.

He expressed the IAF’s support for and solidarity with the media, claiming that “Friday’s incident and the attack on members of the March 24 youth movement at the Interior Ministry Circle earlier this year were engineered by the same party”.

The Public Security Department has also launched an investigation and suspended four police officers for their role in the violence.

Momani described the arrest of four policemen as “a joke” and insisted that those who took part in the attack, whether physically or by issuing orders, must be held accountable and brought to justice.

Meanwhile, MP Jamil Nimri, also a columnist, condemned the attack and charged that whoever orchestrated it aimed to prevent the media from reporting the incident.

18 July 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=39563.