IAPA concerned at murder of journalist in Peru, calls for prompt investigation

IAPA concerned at murder of journalist in Peru, calls for prompt investigation MIAMI, Florida (March 21, 2007)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today expressed concern at the murder of a journalist in Peru and called on the authorities there to act swiftly to identify those responsible and bring them to justice, the IAPA declared. Miguel Pérez Julca, 38, a reporter with Peruvian radio station Radio Exitos, was killed on March 17 in Jaén, in the northwestern province of Cajamarca. He was driving with his wife and two children to his home in the Las Palmas neighborhood when two men riding a motorcycle shot him in the head in full view of his family. According to local press reports Pérez Julca, who also worked for Radio Oriental and Radio Jaén, was investigating reported corruption in the local government and residents’ fears for their safety. The day before he was killed he told friends and family members that he had been followed by an unidentified vehicle. “We repudiate this crime and urge the relevant authorities to investigate as soon as possible so as to identify those behind it and those who carried it out,” said Gonzalo Marroquín, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information. “We extend our sympathy to Pérez Julca’s family and colleagues.” Marroquín, editor of the Guatemala City, Guatemala, newspaper Prensa Libre, said that during the IAPA’s recent Midyear Meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, the organization had met with representatives of the Peruvian Press Council to coordinate a joint mission in Peru aimed at following up the cases of Antonio de la Torre Echeandía and Alberto Rivera Fernánez, murdered on February 14 and April 21, 20904, respectively, He said that this latest murder would be included in the investigations being carried out by the two organizations. “We ask the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Peru to investigate the incident and give guarantees for journalists to be able to do their work freely,” Marroquín declared. The IAPA’s Midyear Meeting was told that during the last six months six journalists had been killed in the Americas – one in Haiti and five in Mexico – and another two had disappeared in Mexico.