Sport reporter Juan Pastén was arrested July 14 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia over a year-old defamation suit brought against the journalist by the president of the National Football Association (ANF), Jorge Justiniano, Los Tiempos reports.
Pastén is the host of a show that is often critical of Bolivian soccer executives and was sued in May 2010 by Justiniano for comments about alleged corruption at the ANF that the official argued were defamatory, Opinion explains.
According to El Mundo, the journalist was hit and mistreated by the police, and Los Tiempos reports that he was hospitalized with heart problems after arrest.
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.
