Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009americas: snapshotsSNAPSHOTSattacks & developments throughout the regionBOLIVIA»»»»»»An anonymous caller threatened Raphael Ramírez, editor of the national dailyLa Prensa, twice on the evening of April 12. The caller threatened to kill theeditor if he “did not stop publishing lies,” the paper’s director, Carlos Morales,said. Morales told CPJ that he received three similar anonymous calls at homethe following day warning that he would be killed if he did not stop reportingon a corruption scandal involving high-ranking government officials.Andrés Rojas, news director for the El Alto-based television channel Canalde Televisión Virgen de Copacabana, announced on April 13 that, after severaldeath threats against him and his family, he had decided to resign. Rojastold local reporters that he believed the threats were linked to the station’scritical coverage of local social organizations.At 6 a.m. on July 26, two unidentified individuals attacked Marcelo Lobo, acameraman for the La Paz-based television network Gigavisión, outside thebroadcaster’s offices, local news reports said. The assailants hit Lobo on thehead until he lost consciousness, and cut his cheek and part of his tongue,Gigavisión’s director, Alex Arias, told local reporters. According to the localdaily El Deber, Lobo had reported on corruption and antigovernment protestsin the city of Santa Cruz. Alberto Aracena, director of Bolivia’s Special Forcefor the Fight Against Crime, said the attack was premeditated and that investigatorswere looking into the journalist’s work as a possible motive.CANADA»»Three hooded assailants beat Jagdish Singh Grewal, editor and publisher ofthe Punjabi Post, in October as he was leaving the paper’s offices in Brampton,Ontario, news reports said. Grewal said the assailants smashed a window in hisvan, dragging him out into the parking lot. He said one assailant put a gun to hisforehead, but fled with the other two men when another Punjabi Post employeeappeared on the scene, according to local news reports. The Peel Regional Policewere looking into Grewal’s journalism as the main motive for the attack,the daily Globe and Mail reported. Grewal said the paper had recently reportedon opiate use among the local Punjabi community, and had been highly critical»»of extremist groups seeking a separate Sikh state in India.Canadian authorities detained and questioned Amy Goodman, host of the syndicatedradio and television program “Democracy Now!” as she tried to cross theborder south of Vancouver for a book promotion in November. After 90 minutes,authorities issued her a restricted visa requiring her to leave the countrywithin 48 hours. Goodman said authorities wanted to know whether she wouldbe discussing the 2010 Olympics to be held in and around Vancouver. The CanadianBorder Services Agency would not discuss details of the incident.COSTA RICA»»Dozens of journalists attempted to photograph the wedding of Brazilian supermodelGiselle Bündchen and U.S. football player Tom Brady on April 4in the western city of Santa Teresa de Cóbano. According to news reports,Yuri Cortez, a Salvadoran photographer for Agence France-Presse, was approachedby a man claiming to be a bodyguard for the supermodel who triedto grab Cortez’s camera. Cortez and Rolando Aviles, a photographer for theCosta Rican daily Al Día, got into their vehicle and were followed by at leastone man who fired a gunshot, shattering the car’s rear window, AFP said.EL SALVADOR»»The bullet-ridden body of veteran French filmmaker and photojournalistChristian Gregorio Poveda Ruiz, 52, was found on September 2 on an isolatedroad in the town of Tonacatepeque, north of San Salvador, according tonews reports. The journalist had worked throughout 2008 on a documentaryon one of the country’s most violent gangs, Mara 18, which was scheduled forwide release that month. Poveda, who lived with the gang for months, hadreceived death threats from some of its members. Police arrested five allegedmembers of Mara 18 and a police agent on September 8, and charged themwith aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and illicit association,the Attorney General’s office said.GUATEMALA»»Rolando Santiz, a reporter for the national television station Telecentro 13,was killed and Antonio de León, a station cameraman, was injured when twomen on a motorcycle fired several shots at them in Guatemala City on April1, according to news reports and CPJ interviews. Santiz had worked as a102103