Reporters Without Borders (RSF in French) expressed concern about possible attacks by Chilean security forces against freedom of information on the eve of more student protests on Oct. 18.
RSF issued a statement echoing the concerns of the Chilean Union of Photographers and Cameramen based on previous cases of abuse by the police during protests, especially the Carabiniers military police.
The union sent their concerns to RSF, citing recent cases of violence against press workers like Rodrigo Cisternas of the newspaper La Tercera, who was hosed with water; Luis Narváez of the television channel Chilevisión, attacked by Special Forces agents and detained without cause; and the photographer Cristian Opazo, who was hit in the head with a teargas canister.
Police hostility toward journalists, which has risen since the start of the student protests in May 2011, was the subject of a complaint filed by the Chilean Correspondents Association.
