Ramiro Moreira, of Majestad TV, and a Teleamazonas news team were assaulted while reporting on an accident in Santo Domingo de Los Tsáchilas.
(Fundamedios/IFEX) – On 24 September 2010, Ramiro Moreira, director of the “Cámara en Acción” program broadcast on Majestad TV, and Leslie Moreira and Fernando Narváez, who were part of a Teleamazonas news team, were attacked while they were covering events at Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, 133km southwest of Quito.
Leslie Moreira, who is a correspondent for Teleamazonas, told Fundamedios that her colleague Fernando Narváez, the station’s camera operator, was about to film a traffic accident that took place on the road to El Carmen, in which the community’s leader was killed. A woman threatened Narváez with a knife to stop him from filming. Moreira, herself, was insulted repeatedly.
According to Majestad TV’s Ramiro Moreira, a few minutes later the crowd who was watching the incident attacked him and his camera was thrown on the ground.
According to Leslie Moreira, the police intervened and prevented things from further escalating. The report was broadcast by Teleamazonas despite the incident.
The Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Journalists’ Association spoke out against the assault against Ramiro Moreira, who is a member of the group. The association’s president, Yanira Quintanilla, issued a statement condemning the incident as “reprehensible” and as an attack on journalists’ right to freely practice their profession.
