We told you about it yesterday morning, two Belgians – a journalist and a cameraman from the Flemish channel VTM – were injured in Beirut, Lebanon. Threats, torture, interrogation… Our colleagues at HLN were able to collect the testimony of Robin Ramaekers, the journalist. Story of an ordeal that lasted more than 20 hours.
Attacks follow attacks in Beirut and the work of the press there is not easy. This Thursday, a team from the Flemish channel VTM paid the price.
It was after midnight when Israel bombed 500 meters from the journalists’ hotel. This is happening in a normally safe area of Beirut where the Lebanese Parliament is located, but also the Belgian embassy.
Robin Ramaekers (49 years old) and Stijn De Smet (37 years old) go there with a fixer, a local who knows the city and assists them. Very quickly, the situation becomes hostile. Even though they wear bulletproof vests with the inscription “PRESS”, they are mistaken for Israeli spies. They are beaten by around thirty men.
One of them pulls out a gun, asks the cameraman to give his equipment, he refuses. Robin notices that his backpack has been taken with his money, his passport…
Stijn de Smet, the cameraman, then finds himself with the gun to his head. This time, as he was taught during his training, he gives his camera. He was still shot twice in the body. He is lying on the ground.
Meanwhile, Robin and his fixer are taken to the basement of a house. This is the last time he will see his colleague for a while. They undergo a sort of interrogation that lasts nearly three hours before finally being placed, blindfolded, on a chair in the street and thrown about a hundred meters from their hotel.
Call for editors
At 4:20 a.m., the editor-in-chief of VTM receives the call from Robin in a state of shock. The Belgian ambassador takes him and his fixer to the hospital. His face is full of fractures, his eye socket and nose are badly mutilated.
They then see, on Lebanese media, a photo of Stijn lying on the ground with an oxygen mask. Three people from the VTM editorial team then began calling all the hospitals in Beirut to find the cameraman. It is then 5 a.m. there.
It was only an hour later that relief came, Stijn was found. He was shot in the leg but did not hit his bones or tendons. The other bullet hit his cell phone. A miracle was what prevented his vital organs from being affected.
After 22 hours of separation, the two colleagues were able to see each other again last night. They should be repatriated to Belgium this weekend where their care will be extended.
vtm Conflit au Proche-Orient robin ramaekers Stijn de Smet
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