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Alert

RSF warns against use of journalists in police operations

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is a 2 June 2000 RSF press release:

For immediate release

Hostage-taking in Wasserbillig:
RSF warns against the voluntary or involuntary use of journalists in police operations

During the conclusion of the hostage-taking situation in Wasserbillig (Luxembourg) on 1 June 2000, Luxembourg police admitted to having pretended to represent a television programme to draw out the hostage-taker in a trap. To do this, the police officers used materials which they requisitioned from the Luxembourg television station RTL-TV. Reporters sans frontières (RSF) fears that such an operation may create a dangerous precedent.


Journalists, especially cameramen, are already particularly vulnerable in combat zones or areas where police operations take place. They run the risk of becoming actual targets for criminals who may see them as voluntary or involuntary collaborators of police forces. As such, the very conditions of the journalism profession are dangerously threatened by such actions.