Nearly 100 journalists, photographers, cameramen and their supporters staged a demonstration at the Batthyány Eternal Flame in Budapest’s Fifth District on Tuesday evening to protest the arrest and detention of two journalists when police dissolved a peaceful demonstration on Saturday.
On the scene at the weekend were two police officers, one of whom later reported to his superiors that several police leaders had urged him to disperse the demonstration, but that he had resisted the call. The protest began at 5 p.m. and ended without police intervention half an hour later.
“Hvg.hu staff member Miklós Barcs, who was detained by police last Saturday, will file a complaint against the procedure through the legal aid service of the Civil Liberties Union (TASZ),” the news website’s editor in chief Richárd Hischler announced. Barcs was taken to Kőbánya police station last Saturday and was only released the following morning. Police told him he would be fined Ft 40,000.
Mayor Gábor Demszky has asked Budapest Police chief Gábor Tóth to draft a code of conduct to protect journalists covering street rallies. An inquest has also been launched by the civil rights ombudsman.
The human rights watchdog body Freedom House yesterday issued a statement that said the arrest of journalists covering demonstrations is a violation of freedom of the press, and of citizens’ rights to information.
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