The journalists were assaulted while reporting on a demonstration in support of the mayor.
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 21 October 2010, a group of journalists was assaulted by supporters of the mayor of Coasa, in the Puno region of southeastern Peru. The incident took place when the reporters were covering a protest outside the village’s electoral office. The demonstrators were protesting fraudulent activities committed against Mayor Ángel Aguilar Hancco.
Approximately 300 protesters were brought into the area by buses on the morning of 21 October. When the journalists asked the mayor who had paid for the protesters’ transport, he incited his supporters to attack them.
Bruno Fidel Chayña, a photojournalist for the “Trome” newspaper, was wounded after the mayor hit him in the face with a stone. His colleagues, Edgar Carí, of Cositell TV, José Guaguacondorí, of the “Los Andes” newspaper, Eldi Astorga, of Radio Salud, and Persi Mamani, a correspondent for Pachamama Radio, were also assaulted by the protesters and had to leave the area for their own safety.
IPYS condemns these aggressive actions and demands a thorough police investigation into the incident.
