Tegucigalpa, September 3 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Honduran National Police and army agents assaulted five journalists during anti-corruption protests in the Yoro and Colon departments in the northeast of the troubled country. 

According to the Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre), the reporters were attacked at the rallies with tear gas and firearms to disperse them during the tense anti-government demonstrations on Tuesday.     

Dunia Montoya, a journalist for Vida Laboral (Working Life) Magazine, was hospitalized with a broken arm after being beaten by the security forces who had “arrived to boot us out,” according to her statement.  Montoya’s colleague, Edy Andino, was hit by a tear-gas bomb in the knee.  Other members of the press were affected by toxic gas. 

On Tuesday, people angered by the lack of response to the corruption cases blocked the highway that connects several departments across the country, demanding President Juan Orlando Hernandez's punishment on those accused of participating in criminal activities. 
   
Farmers, students, sympathizers of the leftist Liberty and Refoundation party also called for the president to repeal the Social Protection law.  

Since mid-June, hundreds of citizens have aired their frustration with the administration over the inaction on the corruption in the Honduran Institute of Social Security, in which Hernandez is implicated.   

David Romero, the journalist who exposed the scandal, faces prison on charges related to the damning revelations.