Int'l Federation Of Journalists Chief Slams Paris Police For Beating RIA Novosti Reporter

Philippe Leruth, the president of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), condemned in his comments to Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd May, 2019) Philippe Leruth, the president of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), condemned in his comments to Sputnik on Thursday the actions of Paris police who hit RIA Novosti correspondent in Paris Viktoriya Ivanova during May Day protests as "brutal repression."

Ivanova was filming the May Day demonstrations from the center of the unrest on her mobile phone on Wednesday. In a bid to disperse the protesters, police officers started using batons. The correspondent was hit even despite the fact that she was wearing a visible "Press" sticker and a similar helmet.

�"I condemn the brutal repression against [RIA] Novosti correspondent in Paris while she was covering the unrest during May Day demonstration.

Viktoryia Ivanova was clearly identified as a journalist, and might have been targeted for this very reason. The IFJ and its French member-unions have repeatedly denounced the disturbances of the journalists' work by the French police or by demonstrators since the beginning of the protest mass demonstrations in France," Leruth said.

Ivanova was diagnosed with the bruise and hematoma of the left shoulder and forearm, as well as with brain concussion.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the French authorities on Wednesday to carry out a thorough probe into the incident and reiterated the inadmissibility of the use of violence against media workers.