(FLIP/IFEX) – Daniel Muñoz, a photographer with the international news agency Reuters, was attacked by a police officer during the 2 May 2006 disturbances associated with the transit strike in the capital city of Bogotá. The incident took place in the environs of one of the stations of the mass transit system “Transmilenio” in the […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Daniel Muñoz, a photographer with the international news agency Reuters, was attacked by a police officer during the 2 May 2006 disturbances associated with the transit strike in the capital city of Bogotá.
The incident took place in the environs of one of the stations of the mass transit system “Transmilenio” in the northwest of Bogotá, when demonstrators who were trying to block a transit path were surrounded by members of the Mobile Anti-riot Squad (Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios, ESMAD) of the Bogotá Metropolitan Police. Muñoz took a few photographs of a uniformed officer assaulting a woman and this officer then pushed the photographer and struck him in the face with his baton.
The journalist’s two front teeth were broken from the blow, and according to the office of Medicina Legal, the injury will leave him unable to work for 10 days.
Even though the severity of the injury is considered insufficient to take legal action, Muñoz expressed his hope that the Police will punish the guilty officer.
The Colombia coordinator of photographers for Reuters, in a letter addressed to the chief of the Bogotá Metropolitan Police, General Luis Alberto Gómez Heredia, expressed his concern over the attack on Muñoz and requested compensation for his injuries and that the appropriate corrective action be taken against the guilty officer.
FLIP condemns the assault on Muñoz, and calls on authorities to respect the work of journalists. It also requests that the officer be punished, and the journalist compensated appropriately.
FLIP also wishes to remind the authorities that the work of photojournalists and photographers in the midst of situations of public disorder is important in keeping the affected community well informed. It is the obligation of journalists to inform, and of the authorities to guarantee them the necessary conditions to perform their work.
