Brazilian cameraman hit by explosive in Rio de Janeiro

Last Thursday (Feb 6), a Brazilian cameraman was hit in the head by an explosive artifact while covering a demonstration in Rio de Janeiro. Santiago Andrade from Band TV was covering the protest against the raise of transportation fee when some kind of firework hit him from behind.

Andrade received first aids from colleagues and was taken to the hospital by the police. He lost part of his ear and suffered a depressed skull fracture. Currently, is in coma.

The cameraman is the fourth journalist attacked in 2014 during demonstrations in Brazil. In January 25, two reporters were wounded in Sao Paulo: Sebastiao Moreira, from EFE, was attacked by policemen; Paulo Alexandre, freelancer, was assaulted by the metropolitan police. Also last night, Gustavo Maia from UOL was hit by policemen.

Abraji condemns this kind of attacks against journalists. In 2013, 114 professionals were assaulted all over the country during protests. It‘s disturbing that 2014 has began with three violent occurrences against journalists. Abraji urges the authorities to investigate the authorship of this attack and to hold the resposible accountable. The Brazilian state must protect the freedom of expression, the right to access information and the journalists.