ANKARA (AA)
U.S. doctors have confirmed in a medical report that the Anadolu Agency journalist detained by police in the riot-hit American town of Ferguson suffered bruises and psychological trauma.
Bilgin Sasmaz was threatened, manhandled and detained for five hours while covering disturbances in the St Louis, Missouri, suburb on Tuesday. A police officer has been suspended from duty in relation to the incident.
The report says Sasmaz went through a psychological trauma during the five hours he spent in the police holding cell. There are also black and blue spots and bruises on his elbow and knee.
After the incident, International Federation of Journalists President Jim Boumelha stated that his organization was “angered by [the] shameful treatment of journalists during unrest in Ferguson.”
Reporters Without Borders' Head of Americas' Desk Camille Soulier expressed "deep concern" to the Anadolu Agency over what she called the "deliberate targeting of journalists."
"We demand an investigation to be put in place to punish those responsible among law enforcement as well among protesters... these crimes must not go unpunished in order [for them] not to happen again," she told AA.
According to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, at least 13 journalists have been arrested in Ferguson, Missouri, since protests over the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer began last week.
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