Brazilian reporter Andrei Netto of the O Estado de São Paulo newspaper has been released after being held for eight days, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF).
“We share the joy and relief of Netto’s family and friends, but the situation of journalists in Libya continues to be very worrying,” RSF said. “Foreign journalists who enter the country without permits are treated by the Gaddafi regime as Al-Qaeda accomplices.”
Netto, who is normally based in Paris, was arrested by pro-Gaddafi forces at the Tunisian-Libyan border as he was trying to resolve problems regarding the way he had entered the country. His newspaper said he was beaten and kept blindfolded during the eight days he was held in Sabratha, a town 60 km west of Tripoli.
Luciana Constantino, the editor of Estadao (the online version of O Estado de São Paulo), had earlier confirmed Netto’s arrest to RSF but said he did not know where he is now being held. “We just know that he is physically all right and that the Brazilian ambassador to Libya is there to negotiate his release.”
