ENGLISH VERSION La tarde del 17 de marzo de 2016, el periodista Jean Cano, colaborador de la revista Criterios, fue agredido con palos por una turba de manifestantes, mientras cubría una marcha en el centro de Quito, organizada por varios grupos sindicalistas, indígenas y ciudadanos, en rechazo a las políticas del gobierno.
En diálogo con Fundamedios Cano comentó que la agresión se produjo porque los manifestantes lo confundieron con un “infiltrado gobiernista” cuando lo vieron tomando fotografías con su celular, las cuales pensaba publicar en su cuenta de Twitter.
El periodista narró que al momento de sacar su teléfono, dos personas que formaban parte de la marcha le rodearon y empezaron a tomarle fotografías. Tras explicarles que era periodista y pedirles que no lo hicieran, continuaron porque no creyeron que su credencial sea legítima. Minutos después que avanzaba la marcha, el hostigamiento durante la cobertura continuó y estas personas volvieron a fotografiarlo, tras insistir en que no lo hicieran, vinieron las agresiones físicas con palos.
Cano recuerda que fueron varios los agresores, pero no sabe precisar cuántos, pues estaba preocupado de protegerse para no ser herido. “Lo que me salvó fue la mochila y la gorra que cargaba, sino me rompían la cabeza”, apuntó el periodista indignado. Tras la agresión, Cano no pudo continuar con la cobertura y tuvo que ir a un hospital, donde le diagnosticaron siete hematomas.
Journalist was beaten with sticks during a protest
In the afternoon of March 17th, 2016, the journalist Jean Cano, contributor of the magazine Criterios, was beaten with sticks by a mob of protesters when he was covering a protest in Quito, which was organized by groups of unions, indigenous people and citizens against the policies of the government.
In a conversation with Fundamedios, Mr. Cano commented that the physical assault occurred because the protesters mistook him for a government “infiltrator” when they saw him taking pictures with his cell phone, which he thought about posting in his account on Twitter.
The journalist told that when he took out his cell phone, two people who were part of the protest surrounded him and they started taking photos of him. He explained that he was a journalist and asked them to stop doing that; however, they continued since they thought his press credential was illegitimate.
A few minutes later, the harassment continued and these people took photos of him again; after he insisted on stopping it, the physical aggression began.
Mr. Cano remembers that there were some assailants, but he cannot specify how many since he was worried about protecting himself for not being injured. “What saved me was my backpack and a cap that I had, otherwise they could crack my head open”, said the outraged journalist.
After the aggression, Mr. Cano could not continue covering the news and had to go to the hospital because of his injuries. In total, he has seven hematomas.
