Several civic groups and journalists yesterday urged the Taipei City Government to designate April 28 “Free Reporters’ Day (自由記者日)” as a reminder for the government to protect the rights of journalists during mass demonstrations.
They said that the Taipei City Police Department failed to respect journalists’ rights when they are gathering news at scenes of conflict, describing several recent cases in which police forcibly removed journalists from protests.
Bees Citizens advocacy group member Yang Shu-ching (楊舒晴) said that although a Journalists’ Day already exists — marked on Sept. 1 each year — the new observance would place equal importance on professional journalists and citizen reporters.
The rights of all citizens who wish to record and document events should be protected, including people participating in demonstrations, Yang said.
The past two days marked the one-year anniversary of the Zhongxiao W Road occupation, when about 20,000 antinuclear protesters paralyzed traffic near Taipei Railway Station in a protest that began on the afternoon of April 27 last year and ended after police officers cleared away protesters in the early morning of April 28.
The incident highlighted concerns about the freedom of the press, after officers wearing riot gear removed journalists from a pedestrian overpass near the protest before enforcing a crackdown on the demonstrators.
At a news conference in Taipei yesterday, several journalists said that the newsgathering rights of journalists should be protected at scenes of conflict.
Decode Magazine editor-in-chief Edd Jhong (鐘聖雄) said that police officers removed journalists from the overpass last year to prevent them from reporting on the violent removal of protesters, even though the journalists did not interfere with officers carrying out their duties.
“If police want to arrest me, they should do so because of my actions, not my status,” Jhong said, adding that he rejects a distinction between “professional” and citizen or independent reporters.
Other journalists described instances in which they said police officers resorted to violence to prevent coverage of protests or demonstrations.
The groups called on Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to monitor police actions and protect the rights of journalists, citing Constitutional Interpretation No. 689, in which the Council of Grand Justices declared that all citizens — not only professional journalists — have the right to gather and report news.
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