The BBC confirmed this Sunday that the Chinese police assaulted and he stopped one of the journalists who was covering the protests in Shanghai, Reuters reports, citing a statement from the British public station. The BBC says, in that same note, that it is “Extremely worried with the treatment given to our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was detained and handcuffed while covering the protests.” Lawrence was detained for several hours but has since been released.
According to the same statement, signed by a BBC spokesperson, Lawrence “was detained by several hours before being released. While he was in custody, the police beat and kicked him.” And, adds the BBC: “All this occurred while he was working as a duly accredited journalist.”
The BBC also says it has yet to receive “no official explanation or request for excuses from the Chinese authorities. The same authorities, regrets the BBC, only said – when they released the journalist – that “they arrested him for his own good, since he was at risk of catching COVID in the crowd.”
Shanghai is one of the cities where the anti-Covid protests and against the Xi Jinping regime were heard and it was in the city where images were captured that – according to other journalists in the place – show the moment when the Chinese police allegedly detained Ed. Lawrence.
I witnessed a BBC journalist being besieged and dragged to the ground by several policemen in Shanghai tonight on Urumqi road. His friend said that he was attacked because he was filming the protest. (feel free to @ his handle if you know who this journalist is) @BBC News @BBCNewsAsia pic.twitter.com/tPgoPET3hg
— Shanghaishanghai (@Shanghaishang10) November 27, 2022
Source: Observadora