Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibian Police say they regret arresting four journalists during a protest in Windhoek last year. The four journalists from various media houses, Julia Nekwaya, Anne Hambuda, Ndapewoshali Shapwanale and Julia Heita, were arrested while covering the #ShutItAllDown protests against sexual and gender-based violence.
Khomas regional commander, Ismael Basson, who was engaging the media on better ways to work with the police, yesterday, said these arrests should never have happened.
Thus, he pleaded for a more efficient way to identify journalists from the general public while on duty to avoid mistreatment. Currently, some journalists have media jackets to help identify them, however, most rely on their media cards.
“As a media person, the card itself is not enough as it might be too small to be identified in emergencies,” Basson said. Journalists’ media cards are issued by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
“A media card is more than enough, but we are saying that for safety reasons it is advisable that the media uses something that will make them identifiable from a distance to avoid any sort of injuries,” he said.
He further encouraged journalists to always carry their media cards in order to get the access they deserve. He added that when it comes to the scene, the police are in charge and should never chase away the media, because they know their rights.
“The Namibian Police needs to know the role of the media in society, they should not be restricted when it comes to information sharing,” Basson added.
He added that it is now very difficult for police officers to identify the media from the general audience as many media practitioners also just take pictures and videos with their mobile phones.
“We are not here to tell you how to do your work but it is about the understanding and relationship between the media and the police,” he said. According to Basson, the police and the media have a co-dependent relationship which needs to be harnessed.
“It is very important to have the media report on news and inform the nation and we can only allow them on the scene when they are identifiable from a distance,” he added. The engagement was organised by the Editors Forum of Namibia.
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