(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On the night of 23 June 2002, a news crew from the television station Todo Noticias and photojournalist Fabián Urquiza, of the daily “Clarín”, were punched, kicked and beaten by individuals who identified themselves as supporters of former Argentine president Carlos Saúl Menem. A group of individuals belonging to neighbourhood associations and some […]
(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On the night of 23 June 2002, a news crew from the television station Todo Noticias and photojournalist Fabián Urquiza, of the daily “Clarín”, were punched, kicked and beaten by individuals who identified themselves as supporters of former Argentine president Carlos Saúl Menem.
A group of individuals belonging to neighbourhood associations and some citizens affected by the restrictions imposed on their savings accounts arrived at the studios of the Azul television station to express their dislike for Menem. The television station was planning to air a telephone interview with Menem. About a dozen individuals who were wearing articles of clothing with the inscription “Menem for President” also arrived at the studios to put an end to the demonstration.
The Todo Noticias camera operator recorded individuals whose faces were covered with balaclavas or scarves attacking the Todo Noticias crew and Urquiza. Urquiza had just arrived at the scene and gotten out of his vehicle when he was assaulted by people shouting “left-winger, get out of here.”
This was the third time in six months that Menem’s presence resulted in violence against the press. In November 2001, a journalist from the Perfil publishing house was mistreated and manhandled by political activists while she was covering Menem’s reappointment to the post of Justicialista Party president. In May 2002, a journalist from the television programme “Caiga Quien Caiga” was forced into a Tucumán hotel elevator by the former president’s bodyguards, who beat him, pointed a gun at his head and threatened to kill him on the spot (see IFEX alert of 10 May 2002). Moreover, in November 2001, PERIODISTAS urged the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to address Menem’s judicial harassment of the “Noticias” magazine.
According to the Argentine Photojournalists Association (Asociacion de Reporteros Gráficos de la República Argentina, AGRA), the attackers “undoubtedly had the blessing of former president Carlos Saúl Menem.” The organisation demanded that “the assailants be identified and duly punished.”
PERIODISTAS condemned the attack and reiterated its concern over the methods used by Menem’s supporters to prevent demonstrations against the former president from taking place. After the December social explosion, PERIODISTAS warned the Interior Ministry that it had noted a pattern of actions intended to prevent the press from reporting on the public’s condemnation of some government officials and politicians.
