A reporter in Mexico was seriously injured by police in the southern state of Oaxaca after he tried to photograph a conflict between security forces and a group opposed to the mayor of Eloxochitlán, reported Article 19.
Fernando Palacios Cházares, editor of the local magazine Ruta 135, identified his attackers as municipal police, who stripped him of his camera, a laptop computer, two cell phones, a tablet and a digital recorder.
At this time, the reporter is in stable condition but his injuries included a 13-centimeter gash in his head that required medical attention for 12 hours, according to the magazine Proceso.
Article 19 explained that the conflict originated two years ago when the mayor kept four of opposition candidates from assuming the offices they were elected to. The organization also denounced authorities in the state of Oaxaca for their involvement in a third of all attacks against the press, which reached a total of 20.
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.
