Murder of radio announcer in Brazil brings IAPA protest
MIAMI, Florida (March 14, 2015)—The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today condemned the murder of Brazilian radio announcer João Valdecir de Borba while he was making a live broadcast of his radio program. The hemisphere organization urged the authorities to swiftly investigate so as to determine who was responsible.
On March 10 two armed men entered the Radio Difusora AM radio station in the town of São Jorge do Oeste, Parana state. They locked a radio station employee in a restroom and then shot the announcer in the abdomen as he was broadcasting his musical program. He was rushed to hospital, where he died.
The chairman of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Claudio Paolillo, expressed regret at the announcer's murder. "We urge the authorities to carry out an in-depth and swift investigation so as to determine the motives and bring those who carried out the crime to justice," said Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda.
According to what witnesses told local media the assailants fled the scene in a car. Borba, 51, had been working at the radio station for 10 years.
The IAPA, together with other press organizations, has been warning of the risks that journalists face and the increase in the number of murders in Brazil, where six members of the press were killed last year.
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. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
