29 Jun 10 | Index Index, minipost
A cameraman has been attacked and beaten by police in Pakistan, after filming violent clashes during a protest in Lahore. According to colleagues Farrukh Asif, who works for the Urdu language station Express News, was approached by police officers as he filmed three protestors being beaten. After refusing to hand over his camera or destroy footage of the incident, Asif himself was attacked. He was taken to a nearby police station and detained, suffering further violence while in custody. After being released, Asif was taken to hospital with injuries to his arms, back, and head, as well as a fractured collarbone.
08 Jun 10 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
A pro-opposition journalist arrested and detained on 2 June has been released. Ani Gevorgian was covering a sit-in for the daily national newspaper Haykakan Zhanamak when police clashed with protesters and arrested 17 people. Police allege she struck a police officer. However, other journalists maintain that Gevorgian’s reports on local police had angered authorities. A video of the protests appears to show Gevorgian photographing arrests, before being detained herself. Gevorgian face charges of assaulting law-enforcement personnel and hooliganism.
08 Jun 10 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Two policemen have been arrested, and the country’s most senior policeman suspended from duty, after the death of a human rights activist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Voice of the Voiceless” campaigner Floribert Chebeya, whose body was discovered last week in a Kinshasa suburb, was last heard from shortly before attending a meeting ordered by the inspector general of the national police force, John Numbi. Following the arrest of two policemen suspected of killing Chebeya, Numbi was suspended on Sunday by the attorney general, to allow an internal investigation to take place. Chebeya’s death has prompted widespread international attention. Criticisms have also been raised over increased police harassment of human rights activists. Four DRC-based human rights campaigners have been murdered in the last four years.
18 May 10 | Index Index, minipost
Augustie Chihuri, Zimbabwe’s police commissioner, has banned public demonstrations and protests during this summer’s World Cup, taking place in neighbouring South Africa. Reports indicate that a decision to curtail all public protests “from June 1 until further notice” has already been circulated to senior officers, and will be formally announced later in May.
