(IPYS/IFEX) – On 11 January 2005, journalists Yoice Pacori, of “Correo” newspaper, and José Díaz, of América Televisión station, were assaulted by security guards at the Hipólito Unanue Hospital, in Lima’s El Agustino district. Pacori told IPYS that they had gone to the hospital to report on the death of a Colombian woman who had […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 11 January 2005, journalists Yoice Pacori, of “Correo” newspaper, and José Díaz, of América Televisión station, were assaulted by security guards at the Hipólito Unanue Hospital, in Lima’s El Agustino district.
Pacori told IPYS that they had gone to the hospital to report on the death of a Colombian woman who had allegedly died in a clinic because of medical negligence. “We were not asked to show our identification when we arrived, so we entered the hospital to obtain information on the case. But later, when they found out that we were in the hospital, the problems began,” she said. Members of the hospital’s security team took the journalists into an office to question them and check their identification, which they then confiscated.
Afterwards, as the journalists headed towards the hospital exit, five security guards appeared and tried to seize Díaz’s video camera. When the journalist resisted, the security guards started hitting him. Pacori took out her camera and began taking photographs of the assault. The security guards tried to seize her camera and, when she tried to call her colleagues at “Correo” on her mobile phone, they prevented her from doing so. “The head of security grabbed me and threw me to the floor. When I tried to make a call, they took my mobile phone,” Pacori said.
A few minutes later, National Police Homicide Unit officers, who were in the hospital to pick up the Colombian woman’s body, came to the reporters’ aid. The security guards fled the scene of the incident.
The journalists have filed a complaint with the El Agustino District Police. They were asked to undergo an examination by a forensic doctor in order to determine the extent of their injuries.
