The British media group BBC reported on Sunday (November 27th) that one of its reporters in China, who was covering protests in Shanghai against the regime's draconian "
zero Covid
" policy, was arrested and "
beaten by the police
".
"
The BBC is very concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai
," a spokesperson for the group said in a statement provided to AFP. .
According to him, “
he was beaten and hit by the police
” while working as an accredited journalist in the country.
Hundreds of people demonstrated this weekend in China in several major cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, to protest against the confinements and restrictions imposed by the authorities to fight against the epidemic of coronavirus.
The spokesman explained that the BBC had "
no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, beyond an assertion by officials, who later released him, that they had arrested him for his own well in case he caught the Covid (in the middle) of the crowd
”.
And to add: "
We do not consider this as a credible explanation
".