Be alert that “no reason” justifies the treatment of the journalist

MADRID, November 28 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The British Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, on Monday condemned the beating received by a BBC television journalist after being arrested while covering protests in the Asian country and has defended press freedom.

“Right of assembly and freedom of the press must be respected. No country is exempt from this. The arrest of journalist Edward Lawrence is very concerning. Journalists must be able to carry out their duties without intimidation,” he said in a message released via his Twitter account.

Earlier, the British Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Grant Shapps, had warned the Chinese government that there was “no reason” to justify hitting Lawrence and had described what happened in the city of Shanghai to reporters in question as an “attack”.

Speaking to Sky News, Shapps asserted that “there is no reason for a journalist who is just covering something to be beaten up by Police.” “Freedom of the press and freedom of information must be sacred,” he stressed.

Accordingly, he stated that it was “unacceptable” that journalists were “arrested” when “they should have the freedom to report publicly.”

The BBC itself had previously reported that the journalist had been “arrested and handcuffed while she was covering a protest against restrictions imposed on China by the coronavirus pandemic” and then she was “beaten by Police”.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Secretary of State for Security, Tom Tugendhat, warned that the arrests were “an example of the action of the Chinese Communist Party.” “The arrest is an example of party repression.” “This shows a clear need to defend freedom,” he added.

However, the Chinese authorities defended the actions of the security forces and indicated that the BBC’s report did not reflect what really happened.