According to a press release received by IPYS, four journalists were physically and verbally assaulted on the second day of a protest organised by the Committee to Defend Jaen Consumers (Comité de Defensa de Usuarios de Jaén). The group is the Electronorte company for a reduction in their electricity rates. The incident occurred on 9 […]
According to a press release received by IPYS, four journalists were physically and verbally assaulted on the second day of a protest organised by the Committee to Defend Jaen Consumers (Comité de Defensa de Usuarios de Jaén). The group is the Electronorte company for a reduction in their electricity rates. The incident occurred on 9 February 2000, a few meters away from the companyâs offices, in Jaén province, department of Cajamarca, northeastern Peru.
The press release states that the attack occurred when Gilmer DÃaz, a reporter with the municipal station and director of the programme News with an Impact (La revista de impacto), and José Flores Burgos, a cameraman and news correspondent for Panamericana Television, were covering the demonstration. They had travelled all the way from Bagua Grande, in the province of Utcubamba, in the Amazon forest, to report on the event.
DÃaz was injured by a rock thrown by one of the demonstrators. He suffered a nasal hemorrhage and loss of consciousness. The journalist was taken to a hospital. Cameraman Flores Burgos was stripped of his credentials and his equipment was irreparably damaged.
John Seclén, a news reporter for the television station Frecuencia Latina, and his cameraman Manuel Pereyra, were also attacked. The demonstrators also destroyed their filming equipment and stole their microphone.
