Tunisia
Radio broadcaster beaten and arrestedPosted Dec 17 2008
Fatem Hamdi, a reporter at Kalima Radio, was arrested and physically assaulted in front of a Tunis school Nov. 24 before being dragged to the El Gorjani Police Station. According to the Observatory for the Freedom of Press, Publication and Creation in Tunisia (OLPEC), Hamdi was covering student-organized protests in response to police attacks during recent demonstrations.
At the police station, the Kalima reporter was taken to an isolated room where officers continued to beat and insult her, destroying her tape recorder and ID card. They then offered Hamdi money or a military posting if she agreed to leave the radio station, OLPEC reports.
In a statement, the watchdog group called this incident “reflective of a systemic practice by Tunisian authorities against journalists and human rights advocates.”