Lawyers beat up scribes, 6 injured

Lawyers beat up scribes, 6 injured

FPJ BureauUpdated: Thursday, May 30, 2019, 02:00 PM IST
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Thiruvananthapuram : Six persons were injured when a mob of 100 advocates went on a rampage outside the Kerala High Court premises on Wednesday, assaulting journalists over the media reporting of the recent arrest of a government pleader on the charge of molesting a woman.

The trouble broke out in the morning when lawyers forced four female journalists out of the media room in the High Court complex and locked it down. The lawyers allegedly showered verbal abuses on them and threatened that they would not allow the reporters to cover the court proceedings.

It took a violent turn after the lawyers confronted the journalists on the street when they staged a protest near the high court against the action. An advocate even tried to run his motor cycle on the protesting journalists. Some auto-rickshaw drivers, who came to the rescue of journalists, were also attacked.

The shops near the high court downed shutters after a section of the advocate started pelting stones. Six journalists, including two camerapersons of television news channels, were injured in the attack.

The injured have been admitted to the Ernakulam government hospital, police said.

The incidents on Wednesday are a continuation of the scuffle between the lawyers and the journalists since Monday. Reporter of a national newspaper, who filed a report on the incident, was roughed up by a group of advocates on Tuesday.

The situation on Wednesday was brought under control after the city police commissioner held talks with Acting Chief Justice Thottathil Radhakrishnan and the court Registrar. Following the talks, the police commissioner promised action against those responsible for the violence. The ACJ also promised action against the advocates involved in the attacks.

Kerala Union of Working Journalists alleged that the advocates resorted to violent protest against the media as they were provoked by the media coverage of an alleged attempt by government pleader Dhanesh Mathew Manjooran to molest a woman at Kochi last week.

The High Court Advocates Association termed media reports baseless. They alleged that Manjooran was “framed and arrests” by the police. Advocate Krishnadas, an office bearer of the association, said they had only tried to appraise the journalists about the false reporting.

He denied reports that the lawyers had threatened to prevent the media from reporting the court proceedings. He has demanded a high level investigation into the incident. Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala has also demanded a probe.

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