Maputo, 10 Jan (AIM) – The Mozambican chapter of the regional press freedom body MISA (Media Institute of Southern Africa) on Friday urged the police and the Mozambican Airport Company (ADM) to respect the rights and freedoms of journalists.
The MISA call follows the scenes at Maputo International Airport on Thursday morning when the police attempted to prevent reporters from covering the return to the country of former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane.
Journalists went to the airport at the invitation of Mondlane, who was travelling on a scheduled flight of Qatar Airways. The police did not say that the reporters’ presence at the airport was any kind of security violation.
But moments before Mondlane’s flight landed the journalists found their access to the interior of the airport barred by the airport management and the police on the grounds that they did not possess the necessary credentials. The airport management claimed that coverage of Mondlane’s arrival was “a sensitive activity”, which required prior authorisation.
None of the media had been informed in advance of this requirement for prior authorisation. Furthermore, MISA has learnt that this demand is not the normal practice of Maputo Airport: in the past, journalists have covered the arrival and departure of political figures without any additional restrictions.
The attitude taken by the airport management, says MISA, not only shows a lack of respect for the work of journalists, but also violates the press freedom guaranteed by the Mozambican constitution and by the Press Law.
The law guarantees journalists free access to public areas, where their activity may be necessary. They also cannot be removed from public areas or prevented from carrying out their duties.
The area of the airport where passengers disembark certainly qualifies as a public area, and the incident, MISA argues, calls into question the rights of journalists. It was “a deliberate action to restrict free coverage of the event”.
(AIM)
Pf/ (325)
