Released pirate hostage: We got beaten up before contact with the Danish media
Source: Information DK [Danish Language]
The former hostage of the Danish ship [MV Leopard] held in Somalia, Captain Eddy Lopez, for the first time recounts his version of the story. He feels abused by Ekstra Bladet and TV2. Media Expert believes that he has a case.
One of the former Danish hostages held in Somalia is now accusing Ekstra Bladet and TV2 of having exacerbated and exposed the situation of the hostages.
Prior to contact with the Danish media, the hostages with Captain Eddy Lopez, said they were threatened and beaten to say and do as gunmen, the Somali pirates, wanted. It appears from a letter of complaint from Maritime Officers (Søfartens Ledere), on behalf of their member Eddy Lopez, have complained to the Press Council of Ekatrabladet coverage and to TV2's coverage of the case: "Every time we had to talk to journalists, we were beaten up, so it could be heard that we were scared and we were told what to say. We never spoke freely at any time. Not at all," says Eddy Lopez in the letter of complaint to the Press Council.
In a comment on 6 January 2013, Ekatrabladet editor-in-chief, Poul Madsen, explained to readers why the interview was produced, "We know it's controversial, and we have also discussed whether we should publish it. Of course, the pirates have an interest in exhibiting Eddy and Sørens torture, but the torture is not something that is invented for the occasion."
In a letter of complaint to TV 2, to which Eddy Lopez refers, he states that he was exhibited in the broadcast of "The Danish Hostages' - Nightmare in Somalia : "I'm really upset with the broadcast. It was humiliating. We wept, we did not do it, we got beaten up. I would not want my kids, my wife, or my family to see me like that. "
Editor-in-Chief: We are very surprised
The complaints came after several politicians, with Foreign Minister Sovndal (SF) tip, have already criticized media coverage of having made the hostage crisis more onerous and prolonged.
In mediation by Aalborg University, Professor Søren Sandfeld Jakobsen believes that Eddy Lopez probably has a case as the guiding rules concerning ethics is not just about media content, but also on behaviour. Soren Sandfeld Jakobsen refers, among other things, to the specific wording on show 'the greatest' interests of victims of accidents or crimes, "But I do not recall that there have been similar cases, so it is difficult to say whether Eddy Lopez will succeed in his complaint. It does not mean that it is a full account. So it's a trade off, as it is an issue of what is in the general interest. '
Eva Damsgaard, journalist and author of the upcoming book on hostage-taking, 'The Dirty Game', does not want to comment on the two complaints, but generally underlines that 'hostages never talk freely with Somali pirates."
"The hostages were being threatened and beaten to deliver the pirates' message. It is a filthy trick pirates use. The hostages must be complaining and whining when they call their families, company or journalists. It is well known.'
Both TV2 and Ekstra Bladet are now looking at the complaints, but the latter's editor-in-chief, Poul Madsen, is amazed: "We are very surprised. We have not had the impression that Eddy Lopez was unhappy.'
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