05 May 2011

IAPA concerned at murders of journalists in Peru, Brazil

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Miami (May 5, 2011)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed deep concern at the murder of two journalists on Tuesday (May 3), one in Peru and the other in Brazil, under circumstances that did not make immediately clear whether the crimes were motivated by their work as reporters. The organization called on the authorities of both countries to investigate promptly to determine the motives.
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Calls for prompt investigations

Miami (May 5, 2011)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed deep concern at the murder of two journalists on Tuesday (May 3), one in Peru and the other in Brazil, under circumstances that did not make immediately clear whether the crimes were motivated by their work as reporters. The organization called on the authorities of both countries to investigate promptly to determine the motives. 

On Tuesday, World Press Freedom Day, Julio Castillo Narváez, host on radio station Radio Ollantay, was killed in Peru and Valério Nascimento, owner and editor of the newspaper Panorama Geral, met his death in Brazil. 

IAPA President Gonzalo Marroquín said from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he is heading a mission of the organization, “We are deeply concerned by these new crimes that on our exact day of celebration shock and underscore the fact that this is a risky profession, and much remains for us to do to safeguard it.” 

Robert Rivard, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information and a member of the delegation that traveled to Argentina, added, “We offer our sympathy to the families and colleagues of the murdered journalists and urge the authorities of Peru and Brazil to investigate promptly in order to determine the motives and bring the perpetrators and masterminds to justice.” 

Castillo Narváez, host of the news program “Noticiero Ollantay,” was killed as he was having lunch at a restaurant in Virú in northwestern Peru. Four unidentified persons entered and shot him six times. He had received threats after broadcasting an audio piece that exposed the alleged involvement of a local government official in corruption, the National Press Association of Peru reported. 

Valério Nascimento was shot to death in the morning outside his home in the town of Rio Claro, in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In recent days he had reported on alleged wrongdoing by the mayor of the neighboring town of Bananal, according to the newspaper O Globo, which said that police had not ruled out a political motive for the murder since Nascimento was also involved in the wrongdoing. 

The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. The IAPA Impunity Project is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and has the mission of combating violence against journalists and lessening the impunity surrounding the majority of such crimes. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org; http://www.impunidad.com.

      

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