Police hit photographer Jesús Urea, shocked him with taser guns and confiscated his camera and memory card.
(IPYS-Venezuela/IFEX) – On 30 November 2011, members of the Caracas Police assaulted journalist María Fernanda Soledad and photographer Jesús Urea. Soledad and Urea are members of the press team for Antonio Ecarri, a mayoral candidate in Caracas. The incident took place outside the city’s Municipal Council.
Soledad reported to IPYS that the police officers pushed her and insulted her. She also said they hit Urea, confiscated his camera and memory card, and applied electric shocks to him. The photographer was detained at a police station for four hours.
The incident occurred when Soledad and Urea were reporting on a complaint that residents of the El Silencio neighbourhood had filed with the Social Controller’s Office. The police identified the journalists as “opposition groups” and attacked them.
The Caracas police released Urea after detaining him for four hours, after the mayoral candidate presented a formal complaint which was echoed by protests by the local residents.
