Correspondent Carlos Dueñas and camera operator Guillermo González were assaulted by police officers as they were filming a confrontation between football fans.
(CEPET/IFEX) – On 6 February 2010, correspondent Carlos Dueñas and camera operator Guillermo González, of the Televisa television station, were assaulted by officers from the Veracruz Public Security Secretariat. At the time of the incident, the media personnel were filming a confrontation between fans of the Orizaba and Tijuana football teams in the Luis Pirata Fuente stadium, in the port city of Veracruz.
A video aired by the television station shows the outbreak of the confrontation between fans after the football game and the subsequent intervention by police, who reacted with force against the Tijuana fans in particular.
When the police realised they were being filmed by the Televisa personnel, several officers turned on Dueñas and González and tried to snatch their camera. Instead, they accidentally hit a switch that turned the camera on and, as such, what they were doing was captured on film, including their attempts to erase the footage.
González said the police succeeded in erasing much of his footage and caused some minor damages to his camera. He said they also issued death threats, saying they would kill him if he broadcast what he had captured on film.
The Veracruz state chief prosecutor, Salvador Mikel Rivera, after saying that the officers were just trying to restore public order, gave assurances that an investigation into their actions is underway and that both the police officers involved and González will be called to provide statements about what took place.
The National Human Rights Commission condemned the police officers’ actions and noted that they had failed to show respect for freedom of expression.