ZCZC
BFF-31
LIBYA-CONFLICT-MEDIA
Watchdog deplores Libya’s ‘almost impossible’ media environment
TRIPOLI, Feb 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Working as a journalist in Libya has
become nearly “impossible” as lawlessness and impunity has brought hostility
to journalists to new heights, Reporters Without Borders said Sunday.
“The situation of freedom of information is dramatic,” the global press
watchdog said in a report released jointly with fellow campaign group the
Libyan Centre for Freedom of the Press.
Covering the news “has become an almost impossible mission… (because)
hostility against media and journalists has reached new heights.”
Crimes against media workers take place in “silence and the criminals enjoy
total impunity”, the report said.
The report was released to mark the eighth anniversary of the 2011 NATO
backed uprising that toppled and killed Moamer Kadhafi.
Since then, at least 19 journalists have been killed while there have been
“several cases” in which journalists were abducted, tortured or forcibly
disappeared, the report said.
Libya has been mired in chaos since veteran dictator Kadhafi’s fall, as two
rival administrations and numerous militias grapple for power.
Libya ranks 162nd out of 180 in the 2018 Word Press Freedom Index
established by Reporters Without Borders.
BSS/AFP/RY/1835 hrs