I was handcuffed and blindfolded for reporting on settler violence
Journalist Basel Adra
The +972 Editor introduces the testimony of his reporter:
On July 15, +972 reporter Basel Adra was detained while covering a settler attack on Mufagara, a village in Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank. Although he identified himself as a journalist, Israeli soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded him, and sat him on a chair in the blazing sun for hours after he refused to reveal the footage of the events captured on his phone. Although army officials initially told +972 that Basel was not a suspect but rather had been detained for questioning as a witness to the attack, the army published an official response that evening indicating that he had been interrogated by the police as a suspect, a claim Basel denies in his testimony. The army also said it would review the way in which the army detained and handcuffed him.
The Union of Journalists in Israel called Basel’s detention “appalling” and a “serious violation of freedom of the press.” The organization further demanded that the army take measures against those responsible, and that they “publish clear procedures regarding the protection of journalists and journalistic privilege in areas they cover.”
The following is Basel’s testimony from Saturday’s events in full.
I heard the settler next to the officer say my name. Three soldiers came over to me while I was sitting with the shepherds, and told me to come with them. One of them asked for my ID number and phone number. Another patted me down.
The soldier told me: “You were here at the time of the incident, turn on your phone, I want to see what you have been filming.” I told him it was illegal to do so, and that if he wants to see the contents of my phone, he’ll need a warrant from a judge. I told him I cannot unlock the phone for him.