(IPYS/IFEX) – A group of transport workers who were demonstrating against rising fuel costs assaulted journalist Teodoro Feliciano Quispe, director of the “Sin Límites” programme broadcast on Canal A television station, and Canal A reporter Ana María Tintaya. When the protesters realised that the demonstration was being filmed, they assaulted the journalists and robbed them […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – A group of transport workers who were demonstrating against rising fuel costs assaulted journalist Teodoro Feliciano Quispe, director of the “Sin Límites” programme broadcast on Canal A television station, and Canal A reporter Ana María Tintaya. When the protesters realised that the demonstration was being filmed, they assaulted the journalists and robbed them of their video camera and videotapes. The incident took place at 7:00 p.m. (local time) on 17 November 2004, in Tacna, a region located on the border with Chile.
Feliciano told IPYS that two leaders of the transport workers’ union, Rufino Franco and Benigno Luna, ordered the demonstrators to seize the videotapes. “They were watching us film the event. Then we realised that they had surrounded us. They began to strike us, at the same time taking away our videotapes and camera,” Feliciano said. The aggressors failed to seize all of the journalists’ videotapes and some of the images that were saved were broadcast by Canal A.
A few hours after the incident, police officers managed to recover the video camera. Both journalists filed a complaint with the region’s Interior Ministry and underwent medical examinations to determine the extent of their injuries, as evidence in support of their case.
