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@ APACC-infos…

…in zee mail of NUJ* member SCAREE GEE-OH!

[*le syndicat des journalistes britanniques]

AN EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT / UN TÉMOIGNAGE DE REPORTER sur le terrain

SCAREE EXTRACTS…

“Covered several demonstrations this week in Paris, mostly ending in confrontations between CRS and rioters or students. Apart from being attacked by CRS, rioting youths & occasionally angry students, hit with flying bottles and bricks, truncheons & shields, a chair, sprayed with different colours from little bombs full of paint and generally pushed around, I have come away relatively unscathed…

“Am wearing a motorbike jacket and trousers, good boots, protective security glasses [goggles against tear gas better], crash helmet, mask  [against  tear gas] & gloves.

“Seen several photographers on the ground and trampled over, often pushed  deliberately. If you’re photographing alone you run the risk of being surrounded by youths & having your gear taken from you. This also happens on a regular basis to students who lose their mobile telephones…

“Rival gangs, sporadic fighting, angry youths & riot police don't like the photographers who often find themselves in the middle, in a no-man’s-land… So it’s always a good idea to team up with several photographers or a TV crew for safety in numbers. It’s also worth having a lemon or purified water with you as a treatment against tear gas, & watch out for the water canons because they can send you to the ground and ruin all your gear.

“At the end of the demo at 5am, several young photographers got arrested, as none of them had press cards. French reporters wear an official leather armband with their press card inserted. I was glad that the British NUJ card was also accepted as proof of being a bona-fide journalist. If I hadn't proof of my Press credentials, I'd also have spent the night under arrest instead of transmitting my pictures”

Nigel Dickinson www.nigeldickinson.com

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