ACM statement on tampering of journalists’ equipment in Jamaica
July 30, 2013.-The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) is alarmed by reports in the Jamaican media that an attorney-at-law confiscated the video tapes of journalists who had conducted an interview with his clients, erased material then returned the tapes.
We note in his statement that the attorney, Mr Milton Samuda, intimated that the journalists voluntarily handed over their equipment in response to his request, because they allegedly had breached an agreement. Regardless of how he came in possession of the tapes, ACM finds Mr Samuda’s action obnoxious and a violation of press freedom as practised in modern democracies across the world.
Tampering with journalists’ equipment and sanitising their stories or pictures is par for the course in autocratic and undemocratic regimes, none of whom can match Jamaica’s exalted position as a leader in press freedom in the Americas. Indeed, ACM hopes that Mr Samuda’s action has not blemished Jamaica’s image in the wider international media community.
In this regard, ACM calls on the Jamaican Bar Association and other Civil Society Groups to call out Mr Samuda for his foul play and infringement on of Freedom of Expression enshrined in the Jamaican Constitution which the Press exercises on behalf of citizens.
