Ugg
May 11, 2004, 10:36 PM
Link (http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,299380,00.html)
The link is to a Der Spiegel article (in German) about the crackdown of foreign journalists traveling to the US.
Some excerpts:
Peter Krobath, an Austrian filmjournalist, spent a December night in a cell in Los Angeles. His crime: he neglected to obtain a press visa before traveling to the US. This visa even applies to citizens of countries who as tourists do not need a visa to travel to the US. On the homepage of the US consulate in Vienna it states that visas are required for those with an infectious disease, a criminal past, connections to the Nazi regime and Journalists who plan to report on something while in the US.
Such practices are only known to occur in Indonesia, says Anthony Loewstadt, of the International Federation of Journalists.
The organisation, reporters without borders, lists in its yearly report some questionable practices of US officials. Some of whom have demanded from the reporters the topic of their assignments.
The most recent case was of a Guardian reporter, Elena Lappin, 26, a british citizen who spent 26 hours in a cell in New York. She was released and shipped back to England on 3 May of this year, coincidentally International Press Freedom Day.
Pretty scary when the US is afraid of freedom of the press. What's next????????
The link is to a Der Spiegel article (in German) about the crackdown of foreign journalists traveling to the US.
Some excerpts:
Peter Krobath, an Austrian filmjournalist, spent a December night in a cell in Los Angeles. His crime: he neglected to obtain a press visa before traveling to the US. This visa even applies to citizens of countries who as tourists do not need a visa to travel to the US. On the homepage of the US consulate in Vienna it states that visas are required for those with an infectious disease, a criminal past, connections to the Nazi regime and Journalists who plan to report on something while in the US.
Such practices are only known to occur in Indonesia, says Anthony Loewstadt, of the International Federation of Journalists.
The organisation, reporters without borders, lists in its yearly report some questionable practices of US officials. Some of whom have demanded from the reporters the topic of their assignments.
The most recent case was of a Guardian reporter, Elena Lappin, 26, a british citizen who spent 26 hours in a cell in New York. She was released and shipped back to England on 3 May of this year, coincidentally International Press Freedom Day.
Pretty scary when the US is afraid of freedom of the press. What's next????????
