Fact Check: Does this video show Spanish cops beating up people during Corona virus lockdown?
By Satya Priya BN Published on 1 April 2020 4:25 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, several countries, including India, are taking strict measures to keep people off the streets. A video showing police beating people on the streets has gone viral on social media. Many Facebook users have shared the video with a post, "This is lockdown in Spain You guys in India are lucky...you just get caned."
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This video has become viral on Facebook and Whatsapp and is also being shared in Telugu. "స్పెయిన్ లో లాక్ డౌన్ ఎలా వుంటాది ఈ వీడియో చూడండి. మనం అదృష్టవంతులం మన పోలీసులు చాలా మంచివాళ్ళు"
Fact check:
This claim is FALSE.
At the end of the video, we can see a logo of Meydan TV. When NewsMeter searched for Meydan TV, we found that it is a Berlin-based Azerbaijani non-profit media organisation.
When we searched Meydan TV's YouTube channel we found that the viral video is from October 2019. The title of the video, when translated into English, reads "Images of police violence and insults to protesters." According to the description, the video shows police attacking protesters during a rally in October 2019.
Similar videos were uploaded on BBC Youtube on 19 October 2019. According to the video, the incident occurred at Baku where the police detained 60 people during a rally at the National Council Centre.
According to a report published in Reuters on 19 October 2019, the police in Azerbaijan detained scores of protesters, including the leader of the main opposition Popular Front, at the start of a planned rally against low salaries, corruption, and lack of democracy in the energy-rich ex-Soviet state.
Hence, the viral video is NOT from Spain but from Baku in Azerbaijan. It is NOT related to the Spain Corona virus lockdown but it shows police violence during protests in Baku in 2019.
