Wilmer Solano and William Vegas were assaulted while they were covering an event in which the leader of the Primero Justicia political party was speaking.
(IPYS-Venezuela/IPYS) – On 27 August 2011, the director of the Zorro Comunicaciones news agency, Wilmer Solano, and his camera operator, William Vegas, were assaulted while they were covering an event in which the leader of the Primero Justicia political party was speaking. The incident took place in Tinaquillo, in the state of Cojedes, in western Venezuela.
Solano said that officials from the municipality of Tinaquillo, dressed in red to demonstrate their support for President Hugo Chávez, started hitting the Primero Justicia supporters who were with Borges. When they noticed that Vegas was recording their actions, they rushed at the journalists and struck them in the face and arms.
One of the municipal officials attempted unsuccessfully to seize Vegas’s camera. He then proceeded to smash the camera to pieces. The journalists eventually managed to flee the scene. Some time later the camera operator was able to recover his camera and, even though it had been completely destroyed, he was able to retrieve and broadcast the video via the Globovisión television station.
IPYS condemns the assault on the journalists.
