Libya: Skyline condemns attack by security forces on Al-Arabiya correspondent in Tobruk and calls on authorities to launch impartial investigation into incident

Stockholm - The international human rights foundation Skyline strongly condemnes the attack by a group of Libyan security forces on the journalist and correspondent of Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath channel "Mohammed Masoud". It stresses that such practices constitute an unacceptable attack on the international legal norms that guarantee freedom of expression, opinion and the exercise of journalistic activity without restriction or persecution.

In a statement released today (Wednesday), Skyline explains that the attack occurred on Monday morning of this week, when security personnel in charge of securing the council physically assaulted the reporter, resulting in an injury to one of his eyes and some bruises that were visible in images posted on social media.

"Skyline" states that the filming equipment was also destroyed, the transmission was interrupted and the Al-Arabiya correspondent was expelled from the site. It also stresses that such attacks and assaults on journalists, media workers and media and press institutions in Libya constitute a serious deviation from the law and an unjustified violation of freedom of expression and media work.

In a statement published on its website, the National Human Rights Committee in Libya condemned the attack on media representative Mohamed Masoud, correspondent for Al-Arabiya and Al-Arabiya channel Al-Hadath, outside the parliament building in Tobruk. The committee said that "freedom of the press is an essential condition for the achievement of peace, justice, sustainable development, human rights, civil rights and public freedoms."

In turn, Skyline calls on the Tobruk Security Directorate and the Prosecutor General to launch a full and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the incident that affected the Al-Arabiya correspondent, and to ensure that the perpetrators are prosecuted, tried, and held accountable, and that impunity is ended.

Skyline points out that these practices violate numerous international conventions, including Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states, "Everyone has the right to receive without interference what he or she wants, and everyone has the right to freedom of expression, and this right includes freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas to others in any form and by any means of his or her choice, regardless of frontiers."

Skyline concludes his statement by saying that all security and military authorities throughout the country are called upon to abide by national laws, norms, charters, and international declarations that guarantee freedom of the press and media. They should also cease all forms of practices and violations that directly affect press and media freedom in Libya, and end the policy of suppressing or restricting journalistic and media work in Libya.