Reporters Pablo Hernández and Ismael Villagómez of the Mexican newspaper Norte were arrested by city police while covering a police raid on pirated merchandise, according to Norte Digital. The police attacked the journalists, calling them "nosy," reported El Mexicano. Agents also arrested Univisión reporter Luis Escalera, added Tiempo.
The reporters were arrested, handcuffed, and treated violently as they took notes and photos of the raid, in which local police usurped the duties of federal agents as they confiscated pirated merchandise and slot machines in Ciudad Juárez, according to ArrobaJuarez.
"It was degrading treatment, a demonstration of the city police's intolerance toward the media. They took us away, heavily guarded, as if we were the worst criminals," said journalist Pablo Hernández after he was freed, as quoted by Norte.
The National Human Rights Commission is investigating the aggression against the journalists, reported Puente Libre.
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.
