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Alert

Journalist assaulted by private security guards; APG calls for the arrest of the perpetrators

(APG/IFEX) - The following is a 26 May 2006 APG press release:

APG calls for arrest of security guards who assaulted journalist

The APG condemns the attack on Guatevisión reporter Alberto Cardona, and demands that the Attorney General (Ministerio Público) and the National Civil Police (Policía Nacional Civil) apprehend and undertake legal proceedings against the perpetrators. Cardona was assaulted on 24 May 2006 by officers of the private security agency Seguridad Integral. The incident took place in the Estadio del Ejército (Military Stadium).

The attack, which occurred during a concert by the singer Dady Yankee, outrages the APG as it is a clear violation of the journalist's right to work and his constitutional right to access sources of information.

The highest press body in the country expresses its solidarity with Cardona and the television newscast of Guatevisión, and demands that the authorities initiate a punitive process against the aggressors. The right to inform and to be informed, the invaluable mission of journalists and media, must be protected.

The incident has been denounced by the APG at the national level, as well as by various press associations, like the Latin American Federation of Journalists (Federación Latinoamericana de Periodistas, FELAP).

APG Board of Directors
Guatemala, 26 May 2006