Faten Hamdi, a reporter at Kalima Radio, was arrested by a group of policemen and violently dragged to El Gorjani Police Station after being physically assaulted in front of Tunis's Preparatory Institute for Art and Humanities Studies, the Observatory for the Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation in Tunisia (OLPEC) has reported.
The Kalima reporter was on November 24 covering protests organised by students at the institution in response to recent attacks by plain-clothed policemen during demonstrations, OLPEC said.
According to eyewitness accounts by students arrested along with her and on examination of the injuries to various parts of her body, Hamdi was savagely assaulted by a group of policemen while she was covering the protests.
Hamdi was taken to an isolated room inside the police station where officers continued to beat and insult her. They seized her tape recorder and destroyed it. They also searched her purse and tore up her ID card. The officers then tried get to Hamdi to collaborate, offering her money or a military posting if she agreed to leave Kalima Radio.
The reporter was finally released at 8:00 p.m., after four hours in detention. The other detained students were released at the same time.
