MAISHA

A Brazilian press group condemned Tuesday the police clubbing of an Agence France-Presse photographer and the arrest of two other journalists who were covering a protest in Rio de Janeiro. AFP photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba, a 42-year-old Japanese national, was injured on Monday when a policeman hit him on the head with a truncheon during a protest against the cost of Pope Francis's visit to Rio. The injury required three stitches and medical tests. The Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association (ABRAJI) said two journalists from NINJA, an independent media group, were detained as they videotaped the demonstration for a website. "ABRAJI condemns this new episode of violent action by the Rio de Janeiro (state) military police against media workers. The state must prevent and investigate intimidations and threats against media workers," it said in a statement. "It is worrisome that the Rio de Janeiro police repeats the practices of authoritarian regimes," the statement said. A photographer for the newspaper O Globo was also injured when he was hit by a head during the demonstration, but it is unclear who threw the stone.