The National Union of Tunisian Journalists has strongly condemned the “police violence” committed by two security officers against the president of its local branch in the southwest of the country, Siwar Amaydia, a journalist at Radio Gafsa FM.
The SNJT condemned the attack as a “serious incident”, saying it was a “new episode” in a series of police attacks on journalists, both men and women, since the beginning of the year.
In a statement issued on Saturday in response to the incident, the SNJT called on the Interior Department to open an investigation sine die into the violence against the journalist, to take urgent action if necessary, and to hold the two security officers accountable, saying it was prepared to take the case to court.
Regarding the incident, the SNJT claims that a security officer assaulted journalist, Siwar Amadiya, at the Habib Bouziane regional hospital in Gafsa while she was covering the arrival of a multidisciplinary health caravan at the hospital.
The journalist was pushed back by the security guard before being assaulted by the latter, the SNJT said in its statement, adding that a second security guard joined her colleague and also assaulted and threatened her and her son, a Red Crescent volunteer.
The journalist, the SNJT said, was transferred to the emergency room where she received the necessary treatment after suffering from a slight discomfort.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse