Journalist attempts to arrest Lieberman

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Sunday February 27, 2011 10:29 by AC

Irish Times article by ARTHUR BEESLEY in Brussels

AN IRISH journalist tried to execute a citizen’s arrest of Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman when he appeared at a press conference in Brussels.

Dubliner David Cronin sought to approach Mr Lieberman before he addressed reporters in the headquarters of the European Council at the end of an EU-Israel Association meeting.

This was his second attempt at a citizen’s arrest of a prominent political figure. In the European Parliament last March, Cronin approached former British prime minister Tony Blair on his way to address a committee on his work as Middle East peace envoy.

He said yesterday that he sat “strategically placed” at the front of the press room. “I said: ‘Mr Lieberman this is citizen’s arrest. You are charged with the crime of apartheid. Please come with me to the nearest police station’.”

Cronin then took steps in the direction of the podium. “I was about to say something further when I felt two guards grabbing my arms. I shouted ‘Free Palestine’ two times; I shouted ‘Apartheid is a crime’ once.”

Officials escorted him from the room. He was searched, questioned by a senior security official and asked to provide a statement to a senior security official.

The official confiscated his press pass. Cronin said he was told he would never set foot in the building again. “I said that was a price I was willing to pay,” he said.

Cronin, a spokesman in the late 1990s for then Green MEP Patricia McKenna, was escorted from the council building.