Sport Reporters held in Qatar
Two Swiss sports reporters filming a piece on football in Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts, were detained in the Gulf state for nearly a fortnight, according to TV channel RTS.
No reason was given by police about why they were taken into custody, what they were accused of and why they weren't allowed to leave the country for 13 days.
The Swiss TV station said the journalist and cameraman had been filming landscape shots when they were arrested at Mesaieed (about 50 kilometres south of Doha) and later forced to pay a fine without being told of what offence they had committed.
RTS Head of Sport Massimo Lorenzi stated ï¾the arbitrary conduct of the Qatari police constitutes a serious violation of press liberty.
The TV crew has now returned to Switzerland.
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