(IPYS/IFEX) – On 10 May 2004, military intelligence service (Dirección de la Inteligencia Militar, DIM) officers issued death threats against and assaulted an “El Universal” newspaper news team comprised of photojournalist Jorge Santos, reporter Felix Carmona and driver Andrés Pérez Cova. The incident took place in the Oripoto area of El Hatillo municipality, southeast of […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 10 May 2004, military intelligence service (Dirección de la Inteligencia Militar, DIM) officers issued death threats against and assaulted an “El Universal” newspaper news team comprised of photojournalist Jorge Santos, reporter Felix Carmona and driver Andrés Pérez Cova. The incident took place in the Oripoto area of El Hatillo municipality, southeast of Caracas.
Santos told IPYS that the team had been covering a DIM raid on the house of Blanca Rodríguez, the ex-wife of former president Carlos Andrés Pérez. The team was allowed to carry out its work without interference and the military officers left after conducting the raid.
Ten minutes later, however, the crew received instructions to go to the home of Rafael Marín, a member of parliament for the Acción Democrática opposition party, where another raid was to take place. On the way to Marín’s home, the “El Universal” team met the DIM officers who had conducted the previous raid and stopped them, asking for verification of the location of the second raid. When they stepped out of their vehicle, the DIM officers pointed their weapons at the news team and said they would be shot if they took photographs or wrote anything about what was taking place. Santos told IPYS that the officers threatened to not only kill the news crew but their families as well. The DIM officers also struck the news team members, mostly with open palms to avoid leaving bruises.
The officers confiscated the news crew’s “El Universal” press cards and Santos’s camera and destroyed the cable linked to the communications system in their vehicle used for keeping in contact with the newspaper. Some of the officers’ faces were covered.
The journalists were forced back into their vehicle and told to put their heads between their knees and not move as the DIM officers reiterated their death threats.
On 11 May, the journalists filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office and underwent medical exams. They plan to request protection.
The 10 May raids were carried out as part of an investigation into a group of alleged Colombian paramilitaries who were detained on 9 May in El Hatillo municipality and who were purportedly planning to attack military installations in Caracas.
