(IPYS/IFEX) – On 23 May 2007, journalist Alejandro Jaimes Maguiña and cameraman Enoc Gómez Durand, of television station TV Perú’s Huaraz branch, were assaulted by a group of teachers belonging to Huaraz’s Education Workers’ Union (Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Educación, SUTE), who were staging a protest march against the central government. The teachers […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 23 May 2007, journalist Alejandro Jaimes Maguiña and cameraman Enoc Gómez Durand, of television station TV Perú’s Huaraz branch, were assaulted by a group of teachers belonging to Huaraz’s Education Workers’ Union (Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Educación, SUTE), who were staging a protest march against the central government. The teachers attempted to stop the journalists from covering their protest by throwing stones at them and threatening them.
The protesters also threatened the following reporters: Arnaldo Mejía Bojórquez, of the newspaper “Prensa Regional”; Óscar Huatuco Mariño, of Canal 13 television station; and Manuel Moreno Guzmán, Joel Gómez Arquiñigo and Silvia Castro, of AMR Televisión.
The affected journalists have requested protection from the city’s government.
On 24 May, Radio Melodía journalist Orlando Rucana Cuba received a death threat on his cell phone. Canal 13 television station reporter Manuel Caballero Vidal was also threatened in the same call. The incident took place in Huaraz, Ancash region, northwestern Peru.
The journalists told IPYS that the threats were made in response to their criticism of the violent protest staged by a splinter group of teachers belonging to the SUTE in Huaraz, which took place on May 23. During that march, the teachers broke the windows and doors of state-owned buildings.
Rucana Cuba and Caballero Vidal have also requested protection from the city’s government.
