(IPYS/IFEX) – On 21 October 1998 in Chiclayo, a province in Lambayeque (a department in northern Peru,) some merchants in the Aguas Verdes shopping centre verbally and physically assaulted two journalists with the Chiclayo-based daily “La Industria”. After giving the journalists a brutal beating, the merchants destroyed a camera and took rolls of film from […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 21 October 1998 in Chiclayo, a province in Lambayeque (a
department in northern Peru,) some merchants in the Aguas Verdes shopping
centre verbally and physically assaulted two journalists with the
Chiclayo-based daily “La Industria”. After giving the journalists a brutal
beating, the merchants destroyed a camera and took rolls of film from the
two journalists, photographer Lorenzo Ayasta Tenorio and reporter Roxana
Torricelli Farfán.
The two went to the commercial centre to do a report on the products
available there. Suddenly a group of merchants, among them the security
guards, descended on the journalists, saying it was “private property.”
After yelling and hurling insults at the journalists, they physically
attacked them at the entrance of the shopping centre; it is thought they
were nervous because contraband products are known to be sold there. They
took Ayasta Tenorio’s film and some documents, and broke his camera.
Meanwhile, Torricelli was pulled to the ground and they tried taking her
purse in order to get their hands on her notebook.
The assailants, who were identified from photographs, are to be turned over
to the Chiclayo criminal prosecutor’s office on charges including assault,
material damages and freedom of expression-related offences.
In a public statement issued on behalf of the Departmental Council of the
Lambayeque Journalists’ Association (the Colegio de Periodistas de
Lambayeque,) dean and journalist Ángel Navarro Carlos expressed solidarity
with the journalists. The statement denounced the attack, and rejected all
acts of violence aimed at restricting journalism, press freedom and freedom
of expression.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Chiclayo Criminal Prosecutor’s Office and to a regional
police Chief for Chiclayo:
justice
Appeals To
Dr. Wilmer Culquicondor Merino
Chiclayo Criminal Prosecutor’s Office
Chiclayo, Perú
Fax +511 74 235872General Ricardo Alfaro Febres
Chief of the regional police division (Jefe de la Segunda Region Policial)
Chiclayo, Perú
Fax +511 74 235534
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
