Photographer held in cop van

A photographer is removed from the Tamil protests he was covering Photo © Marc Vallée www.marcvallee.co.uk

A FREELANCE photographer and NUJ member was briefly detained by police during the Tamil protests in Parliament Square on 18 May. He was forcibly removed from the protest by Tactical Support Group officers as Tamil protesters occupied a road outside Parliament, and held by officers before being transferred to a police van. He wasn’t told the reason for his detention.

LFB member and videographer Jason Parkinson, who was also present covering the protests, said his release was negotiated on the spot by other NUJ member photographers who were at work in the square, and that NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear spoke to a Metropolitan Police inspector who was on duty at the scene (on a member's phone) to demand his release. He received medical attention from London ambulance service paramedics after he was freed. His colleagues documented the incident with photos and video footage.

• The often unhelpful attitude police seem to have towards photographers was raised at the recent NUJ Photographers' Conference