The Foreign Press Association said Sunday it is considering legal action to force the police to return photographic film confiscated Friday from West German free-lance photographer Andre Brutmann. The FPA said it might boycott government-sponsored events in protest.
Brutmann, who has temporary residence status in Israel, was forced to hand over 12 rolls of color and black-and-white film he used in Budapest last month at a meeting of Israelis with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
The police came to his home Friday night after a judge issued a confiscation order. Brutmann had been interrogated for three-and-a-half hours earlier Friday at the Ramle police station. He was met by police at Ben Gurion Airport Wednesday when he arrived from Hungary and was told the film was needed as evidence in legal proceedings. Israeli citizens are forbidden by law to have any contact with PLO representatives.
Brutmann refused to hand over his film at the airport.
The FPA protested the police action then and issued a second protest Sunday, accusing the authorities of singling out Brutmann “for harassment and interference in his professional work.” He had been on assignment in Budapest for Time magazine and said he air-freighted his film from there to the magazine in New York.
The FPA said it is “dedicated to the principles of freedom of information and unhindered access to places where news is made.” It “cannot accept such arbitrary and discriminatory behavior on the part of the Israeli law enforcement authorities,” the statement said.
“The regrettable incident casts doubt on Israeli status as a democratic country in which journalists from all over the world can be based and in which they can fulfill their professional obligations,” the statement added. “The FPA will not rest until this intolerable and undemocratic affair is resolved to its satisfaction.”
It demanded that Brutmann’s film be returned and not used against anyone.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
