(IPYS/IFEX) – Three members of the Peruvian Aprista Party (PAP) assaulted journalist Edwin Azaña Alejos, a reporter and camera operator for “The Power of Information” (“El Poder de la Información”) programme, broadcast on Channel 31 television station in Chimbote, Santa province, in the Ancash region. The journalist was covering the election of the party’s new […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Three members of the Peruvian Aprista Party (PAP) assaulted journalist Edwin Azaña Alejos, a reporter and camera operator for “The Power of Information” (“El Poder de la Información”) programme, broadcast on Channel 31 television station in Chimbote, Santa province, in the Ancash region. The journalist was covering the election of the party’s new regional executive.
The incident occurred on 14 December 2003, after 8:00 p.m. (local time), when Azaña Alejos arrived at the local PAP headquarters in Chimbote to report on the elections. While the journalist was covering the event, he saw three party members enter one of the voting stations and begin to tear up the voting cards.
When Azaña Alejos began to film the incident, the party members pushed him out of the building and began hitting and kicking him. They continued the attack even after the journalist had fallen to the ground with his camera. Reporters from other media outlets intervened and rescued their colleague from his assailants, who threatened the other journalists as well.
Carlos Palacios Macharé, who witnessed the incident, called on the PAP leaders to identify and punish the assailants. Journalist Richard Enciso Sánchez demanded a stop to all attacks on the press, whose duty it is to investigate and inform the public.
IPYS condemned the attack and expressed support for the journalist. The organisation called on local and national PAP leaders to discipline party members who are responsible for these types of actions and to encourage the membership to respect the press and allow journalists to carry out their work.
