Fifteen reporters covering the final protest against the World Cup in Brazil were injured by police, according to the journalists' union in Rio de Janeiro, reports the Latin American Herald.
Among them were three foreign correspondents - Peru's Boris Mercado, who was also arrested, the Italian Luigi Spera and Canadian documentary filmmaker Jason O'Hara, who required hospital treatment.
Several demonstrators were also injured during the three-hour police cordon near Maracana stadium, where Germany defeated Argentina on Sunday.
Ana Carolina Fernandes, who works for the Reuters news agency, said that police ripped off her gas mask and shot pepper spray in her face.
Union leader Paula Marian criticised police aggression towards reporters and demanded "a change in the model of public security, which, in the name of keeping order, resorts to brutal violence."
Rio de Janeiro's police issued a communique in which it said it understands "the importance of journalists' work" and will deal with officers accused of brutality.
Source: Latin American Herald
