http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/69883/

Photographer assaulted by demonstrators


Español: Manifestantes agreden a reportero gráfico

Country/Topic: Colombia
Date: 19 October 2005
Source: Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS)
Person(s): John Jairo Bonilla GarcÃÂ*a
Target(s): journalist(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): assaulted , injured
Urgency: Flash

(IPYS/IFEX) - On the afternoon of 10 October 2005, John Jairo Bonilla GarcÃÂ*a, a freelance photographer for "El Tiempo Café" newspaper, was hit on the head by a rock which rendered him unconscious. The cut required 12 stitches. The incident occurred in Pereira, Risaralda department, in western Colombia, while Bonilla was covering a demonstration by indigenous people protesting a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement.

The 36-year-old photographer, who also works for Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP), was taken to the Santa Rosa de Cabal hospital where he remained under observation for 12 hours. His condition is now stable.

This is the second incident involving an "El Tiempo Café" photographer in Pereira. On 5 October, John Alexander Chica was assaulted by a policeman for taking photographs of a street vendor who was being mistreated by a number of police officers (see IFEX alert of 13 October 2005).
RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to the Risaralda Police:
- urging them to respect the media and ensure that journalists can freely carry out their work in Risaralda
APPEALS TO:

Coronel Jorge Enrique RodrÃÂ*guez Peralta
Comando de PolicÃÂ*a Risaralda
[Risaralda Police]
Carrera 4 bis No. 24-39, Pereira
Tel: +576 329 4586
MORE INFORMATION:


For further information, contact Gabriel Chávez-Tafur, at IPYS, Calle Sucre no 317, Barranco, Lima, Peru, tel: +511 247 3308, +511 247 0406, fax: +511 2 473194, e-mail: postmaster@ipys.org, Internet: http://www.ipys.org