A photographer was held captive in a shack, threatened and robbed while he was covering a police operation to evict squatters from a piece of land.
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 24 August 2009, Filipe Araújo, a photographer for the daily “O Estado de S. Paulo”, was held captive in a shack, threatened and robbed while he was covering a police operation aimed at evicting squatters from the Portelinha favela, located south of Sao Paulo.
The squatters were resisting the police by committing acts of vandalism. While Araújo was covering the eviction, five hooded and armed men grabbed him and took him into a shack, where they stole his equipment and threatened to shoot him if he tried to leave.
The photographer managed to escape and asked the police for assistance, but he was unable to recover his stolen equipment.
