By Ingrid Bachmann
Journalist Marcelo Garay Vergara could be sentenced to up to 200 days in prison for taking unauthorized photos of the Mapuche conflict from inside a farm in Padre Las Casas, in the south of Chile, reported La Nación. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 21.
In May of 2009, Garay was reporting near a community of indigenous Mapuche when a squadron of Carabinero police officers stopped him for taking photos without authorization in an area without public access, which is prohibited by law, explained El Ciudadano.
The Journalists Guild condemned the charged against Garay, saying it is absurd that a journalist would be imprisoned for doing his job, reported Radio of the University of Chile. “We are worried about the obstruction of the practice of journalism ... that is leaving the public with incomplete information," said a guild leader.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
