(IPYS/IFEX) – Two journalists from Canal N television station were recently attacked by a National Police (Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) officer in the city of La Oroya, Yauli province, in the Junín central mountain region of Peru. Camera operator Renato Fernández, who was accompanying reporter Andy Ortiz, was physically assaulted. The incident occurred on […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Two journalists from Canal N television station were recently attacked by a National Police (Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) officer in the city of La Oroya, Yauli province, in the Junín central mountain region of Peru. Camera operator Renato Fernández, who was accompanying reporter Andy Ortiz, was physically assaulted.
The incident occurred on 24 September 2003, in the vicinity of the central highway that crosses La Oroya, when at least 3,000 people were in the street protesting the firing of 354 workers from the Doe Run Perú mining company. The demonstration was part of a 48-hour provincial strike called by the Yauli Municipality and a number of civil organisations.
The demonstrators had blocked the highway, which is the only route to cities in the mountains and central forest area, since early in the day. Inter-provincial buses and cargo transport vehicles had been prevented from passing through for several hours. At around noon (local time), the police intervened with tear gas to clear the highway, resulting in a bitter confrontation with the demonstrators.
Fernández was filming the confrontation, in which some people were beaten and others detained. Without explanation, a police officer jumped on Fernández and began to hit him with his club, until the journalist fell to the ground. Fernández was nonetheless able to continue filming. The images of the journalist’s beating, which were later disseminated, have been used in the complaint against his attacker.
The journalists told IPYS that they lodged a complaint about the attack with the regional police. VIII Region Police Chief General PNP Adolfo Alfaro Zúñiga promised to investigate the incident and punish the officer responsible for the attack.
