(IPYS/IFEX) – On 29 June 2005, Juan Carlos Neida, a photographer for the daily “El Nuevo País”, was assaulted and held by four men presumed to be members of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Dirección de Inteligencia Militar, DIM), after he took photos in the Caracas neighbourhood of Las Mercedes. Neida told IPYS that he was […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 29 June 2005, Juan Carlos Neida, a photographer for the daily “El Nuevo País”, was assaulted and held by four men presumed to be members of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Dirección de Inteligencia Militar, DIM), after he took photos in the Caracas neighbourhood of Las Mercedes.
Neida told IPYS that he was stopped by four men with DIM identification cards when he took photographs of a nightclub façade for an article about a traffic accident involving National Land Institute director Eliécer Otaiza several days earlier. Although he showed them his press card and tried to explain his actions to his captors, the men forced him into a black Jeep and proceeded to hit and insult him.
Neida said he was held for eight hours while the group drove around the capital, then finally left in the deserted Cota Mil sector.
His assailants also erased his camera’s memory.
