February 11 – Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff has condemned the latest violent protests against hikes in public transport fares as a news cameraman injured whilst covering last weekend’s demonstrations was declared brain dead after falling into a coma.
Santiago Andrade’s tragedy was a “sad, revolting incident,” Rousseff said on her Twitter account. “We cannot allow democratic protests to be tainted by those who have no respect for human lives.”
“Freedom of protest is a fundamental principle of democracy and cannot be used to kill, injure and threaten human lives, nor destroy public or private property.”
Rousseff said she had ordered the Federal Police to help the Rio police investigate the case of Andrade, 49, who worked for the local TV station Bandeirantes and was struck on the head by a stray bottle rocket on Friday. He underwent a surgery the same day but doctors have now declared him brain dead.
Photographs and video of the device’s deadly, albeit accidental, trajectory have filled the front pages of newspapers and prime time news coverage in Brazil.
Whilst seven construction workers have been killed at World Cup sites, promoting persistent safety fears, this was the first time that a journalist had lost his life after being caught up in the protests that threaten to disrupt the tournament beginning in June, an increasingly worrying scenario both for organisers and FIFA.
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