"Camera off or I'll shoot"
[Google Übersetzer/Editor:] Romas Dabrukas works as a cameraman for the news agency Ruptly TV in Berlin. He prepares international news for online media and for the group Russia Today (RT Television). On Monday night, he wanted to film an political event where artists performed in front of the U.S. consulate in Frankfurt. He was prevented by police at gunpoint. What had happened? - [In his own words: ] Around two clock that night I was covering the news for Ruptly TV, working as a cameraman. I had been dispatched to the American consulate. I had just returned from the Northern Irish Capital, Belfast, to film the Frankfurt art project at the consulate in Berlin. Some guards were in uniform. The artists had just driven up. They had equipment with which to project images on the wall of the building. As I had understood it, they were about to carry out a demo projecting slides against the walls of the consulate as a protest against NSA's surveillance in Germany. Then suddenly everything happened quickly. A squad of about 20 police officers came out of nowhere. Several police cars. An officer with a gun in his hand told me to turn off my camera. He said: »Camera off or I'll shoot." I was shocked. There are laws that supposedly protect press freedom in Germany. At first I thought maybe all this were because I only had a Lithuanian press card with me, but my German colleagues got the same treatment. The police officers confiscated our cameras. They said it was because this was it was a security zone, but my German colleagues and I were across the street from the consulate. I was amazed, because this is not American territory. They also demanded to see the pictures I had taken. They also seized my SD memory card for the camera. I did not accept this because as independent members of the press we basically do not want to cooperate with the police.
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