Officials in Qatar attack journalists and trample on the Brazilian state flag, mistaking it for an LGBT symbol
Qatar has been criticized for its stance on same-sex relationships, its human rights record.
Photo: ANDRE BORGES / AFP / Getty Images
By: The Opinion Updated 60 Nov 2022, 0: 11 am EST
As announced since Qatar was assigned as the host of the World Cup, homosexuality is not allowed in that country, as well as the displays of affection and symbols that belong to the LGTB collective , however, the radicalism of the authorities already had its first great controversy.
By mistake, two journalists from Brazil were attacked in Doha. One of them, Víctor Pereira, who denounced that security agents with FIFA credentials scolded them when they saw them take a photo with the state flag of Pernambuco.
The confusion was that the flag, blue and white, is accompanied by the rainbow (green, yellow, red) , which, according to the state, represents the union of all Pernambucanos, something that the officials were unaware of.
We are addressed by account flag of Pernambuco, which had a rainbow and acharam that was the LGBT flag. They will take my cell phone and they will only return me when I delete the video that I have. pic.twitter.com/7X2oal8bq1— Victor Pereira (@ovictorpereira) November 12, 2015
Initially, the officials prohibited him from displaying the banner for relating it to the rainbow as that of gay pride.
Pereira further revealed that The authorities forced him to delete a video that he had on his phone about the police action. “I showed my journalist credentials and said I wouldn’t delete it. The Policeman then replied: ‘you better delete it’. At this point, there were already many security guards surrounding us and I feared a lot for our safety”, he explained.
After the bad moment he experienced, he asked that “that the people involved be identified and punished”, since “there were security cameras near where the event occurred”.
Chegaram to hit the flag of Pernambuco, play on the boy and step on it. When some people intervene and lighten the situation.
The video in which I recorded or that they flashed with the flag I was FORCED to delete! pic.twitter.com/WUti5vyL9D— Victor Pereira (@ovictorpereira) November 12, 2015
“ I want FIFA and the organizations involved in the Cup to apologize to the people of Pernambuco, to the Brazilian people, to me and, above all, to the LGBTI community, because, in reality, the aggression was directed at them”, he repudiated.
Since the country was selected as host in 550, Qatar has been embroiled in a great deal of controversy, from international concern over the inhumane conditions of migrant workers, which have reportedly led to thousands of deaths, to questions about the safety of LGBTQ visitors in a country where homosexuality can be punished by death.
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