A German expat reporter reportedly was attacked today outside the Constitutional Court by guards he believed were working for renegade monk and protest leader Luang Pu Buddha Issara.
Nick Nostitz said a group of men dressed as guards approached him this afternoon and demanded he go with them to see “Luang Pu” and physically attacked him when he refused. He told Khaosod he resisted their assault and eventually police intervened to rescue him.
“In the wider context of the current political strife, there have been incidents of both torture and murder involving non-journalists,” said a statement from the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. “Violence against any individual is illegal. Harassment of the media is unconstitutional and hinders objective coverage of a complex and evolving political situation.”
Nostitz was wearing a green armband identifying him as a member of the media.
The FCCT said other reporters have been attacked but chose not to report the crime to avoid becoming the news.
If true, it wasn’t the first time Nostitz was attacked. He had to seek police protection in November when an anti-government protest speaker identified him from the stage as a red shirt supporter.
Nostitz said he feared for his safety in light of reports of detention and abuse of individuals detained by protest guards. He filed a complaint with the police, he added.
Photo: Nick Nostitz on Facebook
