The Brazilian military hindered camera crews from filming in the Complexo do Alemão, a collection of 13 slums, or favelas, outside Rio de Janeiro, on Oct. 3, reported the website Consciência.net. The favelas have been occupied by the military since November 2010, after a series of attacks orchestrated by drug traffickers.
Crews from the Agência de Notícias das Favelas (ANF) and the newspaper A Nova Democracia went to the favelas after a photo of police beating a resident was released. When the journalists arrived, they were met by unidentified military personnel that attacked the journalists and tried to prohibit their filming, reported ANF's website. According to one of the soldiers, their orders came from their commanders.
Denying the press' allegations, the chief of staff of the military unit occupying the favela said the press could film there and pass freely in the neighborhood. The following day, however, residents confirmed that a news crew from SBT was also denied permission to film and entrance to the area, reported the newspaper, A Nova Democracia.
