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Cardinal George Pell's heavy-handed security guards 'push and punch' Australian media in Rome
By Freya Noble
[with video] Security for Cardinal George Pell have been accused of 'pushing and punching' Australian media in Rome as he arrived to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Child Abuse. Cardinal Pell is speaking to the commission in Ballarat, Victoria, via video link from a hotel near his home at the Vatican in Rome despite public pressure to bring him home for the event. As he arrived at the high-end hotel, heavy-handed security are said to have forcefully pushed waiting media away from Pell as he arrived through a side door. Channel Nine reporter Amelia Ballinger told the Sydney Morning Herald one reporter was punched, while cameramen were pushed and shoved out of the way. 'Before he even got out of the car a number of big, burly security guards got out before him and they basically assaulted, I guess, for want of a better word, the [television] crew that was waiting there for him,' Ballinger said. She added that a journalist waiting to question Pell was 'punched in the stomach', and Pell entered the building without having to face any questions. Italian Police have been informed of the alleged incidents and the Royal Commission have been notified However according to Cardinal Pell's office he was not accompanied by his own security but the Italian Police. 'The Italian police are in charge of security outside and inside the hotel where the hearing is taking place and have been liaising with commission staff,' the statement said. Cardinal Pell asked a member of his team to speak to the reporter to check on his wellbeing, it said.
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