Freelance journalist beaten and detained by police at protests

2 February, 2017 – Christian Gesellmann, a German freelance journalist covering protests in Bucharest was detained by police, Valentina Nicolae, his colleague and reporter for Casa Jurnalistului wrote on her Facebook page.

According to Nicolae, Gesellmann was covering a clash between a group of football hooligans and the police which took place that day.

After Gesellmann refused to delete footage recorded with his phone, a policeman kicked him several times, then forced him into a car and drove him to the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).

Gesellmann did not have a press ID on him and he does not speak Romanian.

Later at 6.30 in the morning he was taken to a police station, where he is being questioned, Valentina Nicolae reported on Facebook.

Gesellmann currently works for Krautreporter and Casa Jurnalistului.

Active Watch, a Romanian NGO advocating for free speech and freedom of the press, asked for the immediate release of the journalist. They also asked for law enforcement to stop their abusive practice of demanding footage to be deleted or handed over to the authorities.