The National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP) has denounced the detention of at least four news professionals from Puno who were arrested in the police raid on the University of San Marcos in Lima this Saturday in which more than 200 demonstrators were detained.
«We demand the immediate release of regional journalists detained» while reporting on the police operation, the ANP said in a statement.
They are Fama TV special envoy Paty Condori Huanca; Radio Huancané and Líder TV reporter Percy Pampamallco Yancachajlla and Radio Sudamericana de Juliaca reporter César Huasaca Abarca and at least one other professional still to be identified.
These journalists «were arbitrarily detained inside the university along with more than a hundred other people who were spending the night there».
«The ANP went to the headquarters of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DIRINCRI) and the Directorate Against Terrorism (DIRCOTE) to verify the situation of the colleagues. At least 4 hours after the detention was reported, it was able to confirm the location of the colleagues, whose whereabouts were unknown until that moment», the entity reports.
In addition, the ANP recalls that the police operation incurred in «serious human rights violations, since the police agents entered the university campus without the presence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and prevented the entry of lawyers».
Some 400 riot police supported by special forces burst in on Saturday with tanks knocking down one of the access gates to the University of San Marcos and detained more than 200 people. Shots were fired and tear gas was thrown despite the fact that there was no resistance, according to testimonies gathered by the Peruvian press.
Delegations of demonstrators arriving from different parts of Peru to participate in the so-called «Toma de Lima» (Takeover of Lima) in the framework of the protests against President Dina Boluarte, elected after the dismissal of Pedro Castillo, had been staying there since Wednesday and with permission to spend the night.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
