Marcelo Borrat, a former television reporter for media company Multimedio Plural, was abducted, beaten, and threatened with death by unidentified assailants on October 17, the journalist's lawyer, Edison Lanza, told CPJ. While driving home, Borrat was intercepted by three hooded assailants who forced him to get into their car, Lanza said. Borrat was taken to a nearby beach and assaulted, suffering facial injuries. His attackers demanded he destroy unspecified cell phone recordings, then left Borrat in the water, the lawyer said. Borrat had received death threats earlier in the year after investigating irregularities in the public health system. He also aired a controversial report in September about workers fired from one of Multimedio's outlets, TV Libre. Multimedio canceled Borrat's show soon afterward but said it had nothing to do with the fired-worker report.

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