Mexicans test police patience
Police gearing up to confront a potential terrorist attack during the Athens Olympics have found themselves plagued by a totally different type of adversary – the Mexican television journalist. In the fourth incident involving Mexican media workers in just over a week, police yesterday detained a cameraman, a producer and an actor working for private Televisa TV for staging a theft from a Plaka shop to see how security forces and passers-by would react. Police said the Mexicans had let the shopkeeper in on the secret. The actor who played the thief, dressed as a tramp, also begged for money from passers-by. All three were set free without charges. On August 2, six Mexican TV journalists were detained by police – and two allegedly assaulted – for filming without permission in restricted areas. On Friday, two Mexican cameramen were relieved of 1,700 euros by thieves posing as security agents.
