Attacks on the Press in 2010 - Committee to Protect Journalists

Asia: Country Summariesdirector general of the Department of Special Investigation, told a newsconference.Polenghi was killed by gunfire on the morning of May 19 while reportingon military operations to crack down on UDD demonstrators who haderected a barricaded protest site in a luxury shopping and hotel district inthe capital. Polenghi was wearing a blue helmet with the word “Press” writtenacross the front and back, and a green armband clearly indicating thathe was a working journalist at the time of the shooting.Troops appeared to be firing indiscriminately in the area, according toBradley Cox, a documentary filmmaker who was working near Polenghiand was wounded himself by gunfire that morning. “I don’t know who shotme or Fabio, but if the military was trying to shoot red shirts, there was noone around us,” Cox told CPJ. “Soldiers were firing at anything or anybody.”TOP DEVELOPMEN TS» Using emergency decree,government blocks access tothousands of websites.» CPJ faults government,protesters for lethal violenceagainst media.KEY STATISTIC2Journalists killedduring violentclashes betweensecurity forces andprotesters in Bangkok.Other journalists sustained life-threatening injuries. France 24 contributorNelson Rand was struck by multiple gunshots to the wrist, leg,and abdomen while covering a battle between troops and protesters onMay 14 outside of the city’s Lumpini Park. Video footage showed that thegunfire came from a position where troops were stationed at the time. TwoUDD protesters drove Rand on a motorcycle to a nearby hospital, wherehe underwent emergency surgery.Chandler Vandergrift, a freelance reporter on assignment for theToronto Star, suffered near-fatal injuries after being hit by grenade shrapnelin the back and head on the afternoon of May 19. The journalist waspositioned with a group of soldiers at the time of the grenade attack andfell immediately unconscious from his injuries, he told CPJ. He said that ittook six weeks for some of the two dozen shrapnel wounds on his back tostop bleeding, and that the grenade’s blast left him completely deaf in hisleft ear. Vandergrift said he believed that the grenade that hit him was firedby black-clad armed protesters, whom he perceived to be targeting troops,not journalists.163