The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is
alarmed by reports of an assault on Lin Feng, a journalist with the Southeast Express newspaper in a village
in China’s Fujian province while reporting on a
building collapse.
Lin was
reporting on the accident in which three people died and 10 were seriously
injured in Fuzhou’s Cangshan District in eastern
China
on July 6. He was attacked by an unidentified group, and images on his camera were
deleted.
An article
about the building collapse and Lin’s assault was also deleted from the Southeast Express website upon orders
from the Fujian Provincial Propaganda Department.
The Southeast Express is run by the Council
for the Promotion of International
Trade, Fujian Branch, which is under direct instruction of the Fujian provincial
government.
“Once
again we are seeing a journalist’s safety and right for the public to be kept informed
come under threat in China,”
IFJ General Secretary Aidan White
said.
“It is
disheartening that the local Security Bureau does not promptly investigate these
cases of violence and harassment of journalists.”
Lin reported
that some of the local villagers claimed his attackers were acting on the
instruction of a senior village representative, who is accused of illegally
constructing buildings in the area.
Another
group of journalists was prevented from accessing the scene of the building
collapse, according to local media reports.
The IFJ
urges local authorities to take action to investigate assaults on media workers
and ensure that government officials respect freedom of the press and the
public’s right to information.
This is
the second case of a violent attack on a Chinese journalist in as many weeks.
On June
24, Fang Xuen Chang, scientific editor of Beijing-based Caijing Magazine, was beaten over the head with an iron rod by two
unidentified assailants, after he left work. Fang‘s head and back were
seriously injured in the attack.
For further
information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific
on +612 9333 0919
The IFJ
represents more than 600,000 journalists in 125 countries