Louvre launchAbu Dhabi, Nov 14 (AFP) The United Arab Emirates todaysaid two Swiss journalists had been "stopped for questioning"after the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi last week butdeclined to confirm their arrest.
The statement comes after Swiss public broadcaster RTSsaid two of its journalists, accredited to cover the opening,were arrested on Thursday while shooting images in an outdoormarket and held for two days.
The National Media Council, the UAE's media regulatorybody, today released a statement saying reporter SergeEnderlin and cameraman Jon Bjorgvinsson had been "stopped forquestioning" in an industrial area of Abu Dhabi and laterreleased without charge.
"After the official opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi,police witnessed the journalists trespassing at a securedlocation in Mussaffah and stopped them for questioning," thecouncil said, without providing a date or further details.
"Police later transported the reporters for furtherquestioning at the police station and subsequently releasedthem without charge."An Emirati official declined to confirm the duration ofthe questioning and said no official arrest had taken place.
RTS earlier said Enderlin and Bjorgvinsson, who arrivedin the UAE early last week, were held for more than 50 hours,with no possibility to communicate with the outside world.
The broadcaster said the journalists were interrogatedfor up to nine hours at a time, blindfolded as they wereshuttled between different locations.
It reported their camera, computers, hard drives andother material were confiscated.
Enderlin and Bjorgvinsson said authorities were focusedon wanting to know why they were shooting images in themarketplace, seemingly angered by the fact that Pakistaniworkers had been filmed.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi was officially inaugurated onWednesday and opened its doors to the public on Saturday. Itis the first museum to carry the famed French name outside ofFrance. (AFP)KIS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.