(IPYS/IFEX) – On 7 May 2009, TV Perú journalist Diego La Torre Rojas and camera operator Miguel Martínez Pinedo, who work for the programme “Confirmado Trujillo”, were assaulted by a dozen security agents for the mining company Comarsa. Comarsa is owned by the Sánchez Paredes family, currently under investigation for alleged links to drug trafficking. […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 7 May 2009, TV Perú journalist Diego La Torre Rojas and camera operator Miguel Martínez Pinedo, who work for the programme “Confirmado Trujillo”, were assaulted by a dozen security agents for the mining company Comarsa. Comarsa is owned by the Sánchez Paredes family, currently under investigation for alleged links to drug trafficking. The incident took place in the city of Trujillo, in the La Libertad region of northern Peru.
The journalists along with other colleagues were covering a protest organized by Comarsa’s workers at the company’s administration headquarters.
Rojas and Martínez approached the area to interview the leaders of the protest when they were beaten by security agents who also seized their video camera and microphone.
The reporters filed a complaint at the city’s police station and managed to get their equipment back.
IPYS condemns this assault and calls on the authorities to punish the Comarsa security personnel responsible for harassing reporters who cover stories about the company.