By Diego Cruz
Argentinean police officers are being accused of detaining, beating and threatening an independent photographer who was covering a violent protest in a Buenos Aires municipality last month.
Brian Palacio, 25, was detained on Dec. 30 after photographing National Gendarmerie officers in the process of arresting and allegedly hitting protesters during a blackout at a shopping center in the port city of Avellaneda.
After agreeing to erase the pictures he took, Palacio was driven off in a van where he was insulted, beaten and threatened with death, he told Clarín. A few hours later the van stopped at an abandoned lot and Palacio was asked to erase the photographs.
“Despite showing them I erased the pictures, they kept all my equipment and continued to hit me in the head. I thought they were going to kill me,” he said.
The officers left Palacio alone after he started having difficulty breathing, threatening him with rape and torture if he filed a complaint or made the incident public, he told Reporters Without Borders.
Palacios walked back to his parent’s home on the morning of Dec. 31 and spent four hours in a medical center receiving treatment.
Secretary for National Security Sergio Berni told the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) the accusations were completely false and not backed up by any evidence or witnesses. Despite this, he said those responsible would be punished if a federal judge were to find Palacio was telling the truth.
“The National Gendarmerie has repeatedly been criticized for its methods and must be held to account for this latest case of mistreatment,” said Reporters Without Borders.
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.
