In a rally organised on 14 July 2023 by environmentalists in front of a government building in Warsaw, Poland, police allegedly obstructed the work of freelance journalist Maciej Piasecki, who was documenting the event.
Piasecki, who was making a report for OKO.Press, was wearing visibly his press ID card, when the police approached him. Piasecki, who has been specializing in documenting demonstrations and street protests for years, covered live over an online platform. Despite showing his press card, officers attempted to block his camera’s field of vision during the intervention against the activists. According to local information, a policeman himself made the action so unfortunate that he broke his own leg.
Piasecki was taken to the police station, where he was released after several hours hours, with the intervention of a lawyer. The phone he used to record the action was also returned to him. This was not the first incident involving Piasecki’s detention by the police while documenting protests.
Allegedly Piasecki plans to take legal action against the police.
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is asking the authorities in Poland to investigate the case and enable journalists to report free from all public events.
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