United States: CFWIJ condemns the trial of Andrea Sahouri and demands her acquittal.

March 9, Des Moines- Andrea Sahouri was arrested in May 2020, while covering a Black Lives Matter demonstration for an Iowa Newspaper. According to Sahouri, she was physically assaulted and arrested by the police, despite clarifying multiple times that she was a journalist. Her employer publication registered a protest regarding her arrest, claiming that this was repression of the press. However, the charges against Sahouri were not dismissed.

Andrea Sahouri was arrested while covering the Black Lives Matter protest at Merle Hay Mall on May 31, for the Des Moines Register. Sahouri was taken into custody, when she stopped to look after her then-partner Spenser Robnett, who was injured by a tear-gas canister that the police had deployed on the demonstrators. When approached by the police, Sahouri clarified that she was part of the press, however, the officers pepper-sprayed her and had her apprehended. She was accused of “failure to disperse” and “interfering with official acts”, charges which can carry heavy fines and 30 day jail-time.

The police officials argued that Sahouri did not have her press credentials at the time of the arrest, and while the editor of Des Moines Register, Carol Hunter, acknowledged the assertion, she claims that Sahouri had forgotten her press badge in the car she took to get to the location. Further, she called this excuse a “red herring” arguing that the police knew immediately that Sahouri was a journalist, and carrying press credentials is not necessary to enjoy the constitutional freedom granted to the press. 

The prosecution, however, argued that the case is a straightforward misdemeanour trial, and Sahouri being part of the press is tangential to the issue at hand. The Iowa Freedom of Information Council disagreed, and in a statement reminded its audience that All Iowans should be troubled by this abuse of prosecutorial discretion… The Founding Fathers wrote the First Amendment for this very purpose — to allow the media to scrutinize the actions of law officers.”

Amnesty International’s chapter in the United States, also weighed in on the matter and supported Sahouri while stating that "treating media work as a crime is a human rights violation."

However, Des Moines Register reports that at the trial on Monday, the judge rejected a motion to dismiss all charges and proceeded with the selection of the jury bench. It is also possible that Sahouri’s communication with Matè Muhammad might be used against her. Muhammad was a protestor at the site, who has been arrested as well. However, he claims that he had a professional exchange with Sahouri after her arrest, because he viewed her as not a supporter but as a neutral platform.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is absolutely appalled at the behaviour on the display by the United States authorities. Not only should the charges against Sahouri be dismissed, the police should be questioned regarding the violent tactics they used on May 31 to disperse protestors. The institutional racism in the United States police and legal system needs to be urgently addressed. It is shameful that a journalist of colour has to stand trial for covering a protest demanding greater civil liberties.