(IPYS/IFEX) – On the afternoon of 24 November 2004, a tear gas canister fired by a police officer hit cameraman Edwin Ocros Poma, of Channel 7’s Huaraz affiliate, while he was covering a demonstration organised by a local trade union federation. The incident took place in Huaraz, capital of Áncash region, northwestern Peru. At the […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On the afternoon of 24 November 2004, a tear gas canister fired by a police officer hit cameraman Edwin Ocros Poma, of Channel 7’s Huaraz affiliate, while he was covering a demonstration organised by a local trade union federation. The incident took place in Huaraz, capital of Áncash region, northwestern Peru.
At the time of the incident, Ocros was filming police as they were trying to disperse several demonstrators who were burning tires. One of the police officers, in an effort to control the crowd, fired a tear gas canister close to where Ocros was filming. Journalist Percy Ángeles, an eyewitness to the incident, told IPYS that the canister struck Ocros.
The cameraman’s colleagues immediately transported him to a hospital, where he was treated for bruises and a deep cut to his right leg. The following day, several Huaraz media outlets and journalists issued a statement condemning the methods used by the police to control the demonstrators. They also called on the region’s police chief to take the necessary steps to determine who was responsible for the police’s actions.
