A court orders to identify the National Police officer who hit a photojournalist during the protest against tourist saturation in Palma

PalmaThe Palma court investigating the police assault reported by a photojournalist during the demonstration against tourist saturation on July 26th has ordered the National Police to identify the officer who allegedly struck him. The requirement represents an advance in the judicial investigation of the events, which occurred during the protest called in Palma by the platform Less Tourism, More Life.

As confirmed to Europa Press by sources familiar with the proceedings, the National Police must submit to the court the available information to determine the identity of the officer involved. The photojournalist filed a complaint before the Palma Court of First Instance regarding the events, which he attributes to officers of the Police Intervention Unit (UIP). The professional was working as a freelancer and asserts that he was covering the mobilization to photograph and record it, not as a protester.

A blow to the head while recording the load

In his complaint, the photographer explains that he was carrying a camera and a mobile phone, both perfectly visible to document the protest. According to his account, a first police charge had already taken place and the unit was retreating when the officers initiated a second assault. The professional asserts that he had not thrown any object, threatened the officers, or adopted any offensive attitude. He also states that, as the police intervention progressed, he took out his camera and mobile phone to record the events and positioned himself behind a trash can to protect himself.

It was then, according to the complaint, that one of the officers struck him hard on the head with an apparently expandable baton. The photojournalist provides graphic and audiovisual material to support his version, as well as photographs of the injuries and a medical report. The complaint suggests that the events could constitute crimes of bodily harm, against moral integrity, and against the exercise of civic rights. The investigation will have to determine what happened and who was the officer that allegedly dealt the blow.

Less Tourism, More Life offered him legal support

The Less Tourism, More Life platform has expressed its support for the photojournalist and recalled that it offered him legal assistance after the incident. The professional, however, has chosen to act on his own, as he was at the demonstration in his capacity as a photographer and not as a participant in the protest.

The judicial order to identify the officer opens a new phase in the clarification of events reported during a mobilization against tourist saturation in Palma, in which the professional claims he was injured while performing his job.