October 20- The NHRCK recommended to the Commissioner of the Police Agency located in region A to establish adequate guidelines for cooperating with the broadcasting of a criminal case, such as obtaining prior permission from the perpetrator.
The complainant, Mr. P, filed a complaint to the NHRCK in July 2009, stating that the police let a pressman film the process when investigating him for a traffic regulation violation.
During the investigation conducted by the NHRCK, the police officers stated their position that they were ordered by their supervisors to cooperate with the pressman, since the aim of filming serves the public interest, such as prevention of crimes. While it is true that they failed to obtain permission and reveal the purpose of the filming to the complainant, they thought that the complainant had agreed to being filmed, since he did not particularly express any disagreement. The film did not air due to the complaint.
The NHRCK concluded that either the police or a pressman must obtain prior permission before the filming when personal information is to be aired to a third party. In addition, the NHRCK viewed that the vague and abstract orders of the supervisors indicated that they lacked an adequate understanding of necessary procedures that the police must uphold during the filming of a perpetrator. Such act on the part of the police violates cautionary duties and necessary procedures stipulated in Article 9 of the Police Regulations to Protect Human Rights, Article 198 of the Criminal Suit and Article 12 of the Constitutional Law.
Accordingly, the NHRCK recommended to the Commissioner and the corresponding police officers to obtain prior permission before cooperating with the filming of the perpetrators.
