An independent New York-based nonprofit organisation that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists has raised concerns over the increasing number of assaults on reporters covering anti-government demonstrations in the Middle East.
Even as the sexual assault on CBS correspondent Lara Logan in Egypt sent shock waves acorss the global media industry, an ABC news reporter Miguel Marquez emerged as the latest victim.
It's alarming to see Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, and Iran, take a page from Egypt and Tunisia to use violence and censorship to stop coverage of political unrest, said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. The international community must speak out against these deliberate acts of media obstruction.
Start the slideshow to go through some of the incidents of assault against journalists in the Middle East:
Marquez, a veteran journalist, was caught by an angry mob in the capital Manama and beaten up with clubs. His camera was yanked away.When the incident occurred, Marquez was on the phone talking to his channel.The audio clip of the assault has been posted on ABC news site. Marquez is heard pleading to be spared and trying to reason with the crowd, saying that he was a journalist.He is then heard scrambling for safety, yelling, "I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! ... I'm hit...I just got beat rather badly by a gang of thugs."ReutersCBS correspondent and CPJ board member Lara Logan was sexually assaulted and beaten in Cairo on Friday.The incident took place when she was covering rallies marking the resignation of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.While shooting footage for a report on 60 minutes, Logan was separated from her crew and security when a frenziedcrowd of 200 people and a "dangerous element" enveloped her, according to a CBS statement, which described the assault and beating as "brutal and sustained."She was abducted by the Mubarak regime, falsely accused of being an Israeli spy and held without charge."We have seen Lara's compassion at work while helping journalists who have faced brutal aggression while doing their jobs," CPJ Chairman Paul Steiger said. "She is a brilliant, courageous, and committed reporter. Our thoughts are with Lara as she recovers."REUTERS/Ho NewCNN's Anderson Cooper was assaulted in Egypt in early February."Anderson said he was punched 10 times in the head as pro-Mubarak mob surrounded him and his crew trying to cover demonstration," CNN producer Steve Brusk had tweeted back then.Later Cooper told CNN's Live Blog that the attackers "pushed and shoved the CNN crew and punched them in the head... but no one was seriously hurt."He later escaped to the roof of a building. He went on air from there to inform that he and his crew were trying to get to a neutral zone between protesters and the Egyptian leader's supporters when they "were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters."
REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniFox News correspondent Greg Palkot and cameraman Olaf Wiig were severely beaten in Egypt.The reporters were in Tahrir Square during the worst of the violence, when the building from which they were reporting came under siege.Forced to flee into the streets - right among pro-government supporters, the two were severely beaten -- to the point that they had to be hospitalized, according to Fox News.It can be recalled that Wiig along with Fox correspondent Steve Centanni was kidnapped in 2006 by armed men in the Gaza Strip.REUTERS/Reuters TVIn another incident in Yemen, BBC Arabic correspondent Abdullah Ghorab and his cameraman, Mohamed Omran, were attacked in Sana.The BBC reporters were reportedly beaten by "men from the ruling party" while covering anti-government demonstrations.Ghorab later appeared on BBC and Al-Jazeera broadcasts with blood on his face and hands.BBC ArabicIn Libya, writer and blogger Mohamed Ashim was detained after security forces raided his home and confiscated his computer and mobile phone, CPJ said quoting news reports.Taqi al-Din al-Shalawi, the director of Irassa, a local, independent news website, and Abdel Fattah Bourwaq, the site's editor-in-chief, were summoned for questioning by internal security forces, reported daily newspaper Libya Al-Youm.(In the photo: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi prays during a ceremony marking the birth of Prophet Mohammad in Tripoli February 13, 2011.)REUTERS
