Security guards attack TV crew outside parliament

Reporters Without Borders today condemned an attack by security guards on a three-member Ayna TV crew that went to the Afghan parliament on 27 May 2006 to cover the selection of candidates for the presidency of the supreme court. “This use of violence was a serious obstruction to the work of the press,” the organisation said. “We call on the authorities to punish the security guards responsible and to ensure that journalists have unrestricted access to parliament.” Ayna TV reporter Nasir Ahmadi and the two cameramen accompanying him, Basheer Ahmad Asim and Rafi Osooq, were stopped by security guards outside the parliament building. When one of the cameramen got out of their car to request permission to enter, a guard attacked him. Other guards hit Ahmadi and the other cameraman with their rifles when they began filming the attack on their colleague. The incident comes just a few weeks after a Tolo TV cameraman was attacked by parliamentarians. For more information on that case: see article.