Louise Bernard, with Solène Delinger
modified to
9:33 a.m., November 17, 2022
Rasmus Tantholdt animated a duplex from a street in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on the occasion of the World Cup. Local security services suddenly interrupted the Danish journalist’s duplex by placing a hand in front of the camera lens which was filming him. Rasmus Tantholdt said he received an apology from the authorities.
Rasmus Tantholdt was live for his Danish channel, TV2, from a street in Doha, the capital of Qatar, when he was interrupted by local security services. One of the men puts his hand on the camera to signify a ban on filming. We see and hear the journalist defending his right to work, he says to them: “You have invited the whole world, why can’t we film in a public place?”. Then he shows his accreditation for the World Cup, that is to say his official authorization to film. That doesn’t seem to convince the agents. One of them tries to grab the material before the video stops.
“It is not a free and democratic country”
Images that have since looped on social networks. Rasmus Tantholdt, the journalist, said he later received an apology from the authorities: from the international media office in Qatar and from the supreme committee. He also added: “You can say that these agents have misunderstood the situation, but that says a lot about what is happening in Qatar. You can be attacked and threatened there when you report as a media. is not a free and democratic country.”