Reporters seek to join probe of police 'assault'
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Press and broadcast organisations yesterday called on police to let media representatives join an investigation of the assault on three on-duty cameramen by police during the Pitak Siam anti-government rally.
Chavarong Limpattamapanee, president of the Thai Journalists Association, and Wisut Komwatcharapong, president of the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, submitted their petition to National Police chief Adul Saengsingkaew at Royal Thai Police Headquarters at noon.
The letter urged police to carry out a probe to determine why police harmed and detained cameramen who were on an assignment during the protest on November 24.
Chavarong said it had been established that the three news cameramen were attacked by police and forced onto the back of a truck meant to detain crime suspects.
The three cameramen were on the job, so the actions by police amounted to obstruction of a journalist’s duty to report the facts to the public as well as a violation of basic human rights as guaranteed by Article 45 of the Constitution, he said.
The letter made three demands. First, police must carry out a fact-finding investigation with representatives from media groups to ensure accurate information and fairness for police and their victims.
Second, police must compensate the three men for their injuries and damaged cameras.
Third, police must invite representatives of media professions to a meeting to draft a code of conduct governing police and reporters covering political rallies. With the media’s involvement, the protocol would be accepted by reporters and would engender respect between police and reporters.
Wisut said police had sent a letter to his association, claiming that they did not know that the three cameramen were on assignment.
But the three cameramen presented their press identification cards to police and they were attacked after they ran into a police tent to avoid the violence, he said.
The police letter also accused the arrested cameramen of helping protesters remove police barricades, but the three cameramen denied to the media groups that they had taken any part in such an attempt, he said.
The two media groups also filed a complaint with the House and the National Human Rights Commission, he added.
National Police spokesman Pol Maj-General Piya Uthayo said representatives of the two media groups would be invited to a meeting to consider measures to ensure the safety of reporters on the job.
Police might distribute a media logo for field reporters and would compile a list of reporters as a reference for officers, he said.
The police chief has also ordered Pol General Chatchawal Suksomjit, an adviser to the National Police, to look into the incident, he added.
