Journalist detained at Helsinki Summit says he just wanted to ask Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin a question

A journalist who was detained during Donald Trump's Helsinki press conference with Vladimir Putin has said he was simply trying to ask the world leaders a question.

Sam Husseini, a contributor to The Nation and a senior analyst with the Institute for Public Accuracy, held a sign just before the start of the press conference, which had just four words written on it: "Nuclear weapon ban treaty". In a follow up article for The Nation, Mr Husseini explained why he decided to carry the sign with him to the historic event, and what happened after security guards removed him from the conference room.

"I came to Helsinki to ask Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin questions about the threat of nuclear weapons and to distribute an open letter about the need for secure elections and true national security," he wrote. "Instead, I was dragged out of their press conference before it even began and into a Finnish jail."

Mr Husseini described the event to The Independent as a typical press conference. He said he handed out some material from the Institute of Public Accuracy along with an open letter on securing elections which The Nation published in July. "Wasn't a huge deal. No one complained," he continued. "Would have stopped if they did."

He was then brought out into the hallway before the press conference began and questioned about the sign he had brought with him. The reporter said he was not planning on staging a protest, and was eventually allowed back into the room. That’s when he showed other journalists the sign he was holding, he said, since his removal from the room had caused confusion.

“Security officers lunged for the sign, knocking my glasses to the floor and dragging me out of the hall,” he wrote. “I was taken to a small room downstairs where I was told that Finnish law allows for police to detain me for 24 hours without charge. They did not allow me access to my phone or other possessions, and they forced me to give up my press badge, which I later got back.”

Mr Husseini was attempting to ask Mr Trump and Mr Putin about the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty both nations signed 50 years ago, and the current threat of nuclear weapons. He said he was also interested in asking the US president whether he would acknowledge that Israel’s alleged "clandestine nuclear-weapons arsenal."

"I’ve experienced what is obvious: If government officials don’t like your questions, they just won't call on you," Mr Husseini wrote. "These are the serious issues I was hoping to raise—and get some answers about—in Helsinki."

Mr Husseini was later released around midnight. No charges were placed against him.

“I played by the rules,” he told The Independent. “So many are now trying to find some pretext to dismiss a journalistic attampt that really scurtinizes policies by Trump and Putin that pose serious risk to humanity."