According to his own statements, a dpa photographer was injured by police officers at a demonstration in North Rhine-Westphalia. This incident has now been dealt with at a special meeting in the Interior Committee.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) has criticized the police attack on a photographer from the German Press Agency in Düsseldorf during a demonstration against the assembly law.
A way should have been found to “get past him,” said Reul on Thursday in a special meeting of the Interior Committee. “I would have liked that.”
He considers the behavior towards the journalist to be “incorrect”. Whether it is criminally relevant remains to be decided. But the question worries him, said Reul, and the case must be “cleared up”. It should be clarified whether the photographer was hit, pushed or pushed away.
According to his own statements, the dpa photographer was hit several times with a baton by an official during the demo on Saturday. He reported on at least one other colleague who had also been attacked.
According to Reul, the police report described the actions of the officer as “pushing against the upper body with the multi-purpose stick attached to the forearm”.
Reul said that after the incident became known, he phoned Sven Gösmann, editor-in-chief of the dpa. The photographer was “clearly” recognizable as a journalist, he said. But he and his colleague got caught between the fronts. “In principle, they stood between police officers and troublemakers.” Reul said that he “would have preferred if the local officials had avoided these journalists”.
The dpa photographer reported to the police press team. He was pushed by an officer and hit several times with the baton. He is in pain and wants to file a criminal complaint. He was immediately informed that a criminal complaint would be made ex officio, said Reul. The photographer was asked by the press team to see a doctor and have his injuries certified. The mobile press team then saw the photographer again and again at different locations, said Reul. The photographer was approached again and again and asked whether he was okay. He said yes.
dpa editor-in-chief Gösmann had called the process an “unacceptable attack on freedom of the press”. In a letter to Interior Minister Reul, he demanded the complete clarification of the events.
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