Activists May File Charges Against Press

An activist group that focuses on asylum seeker issues may file charges against Stöð 2 with the Journalists’ Ethics Committee, over their coverage of a protest demonstration at the Ministry of the Interior yesterday.

DV reports that the group, No Borders, believes they and the protest were inaccurately represented on the news. Stöð 2 newscasters told the public that police had to call for backup to deal with 20 protestors in the lobby of the ministry, including the deployment of the Special Forces, and that police had a hard time controlling the protestors.

No Borders counters that even Stöð 2’s own video footage tells a totally different story, and that at no time did police need to “control” the protestors. Rather, police mingled peaceably with the protestors, who left the building after about an hour, without incident.

The discrepancy in what was reported and what actually happened has prompted No Borders to consider filing charges with the Journalists’ Ethics Committee over the matter.

As reported, Nigerian asylum seeker Izekor Osazee, who is married to Icelander Gísli Jóhann Grétarsson, was arrested Monday morning and held in police custody pending deportation. Protestors assembled at the police station, Izekor’s husband amongst them, demanding her release. She was released from custody later in the day, and the decision to deport her appears to be on hold for the time being.