Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009journalists killed: motive unconfirmedlice, in connection with Sambrano’skilling. Pérez was accused of being ahired assassin, police told the local press.Robinson Castillo, the local police commissioner,told reporters that authoritieswere investigating whether a local businessmanplotted the murder, the daily ElNacional reported. Authorities issued anarrest warrant for the businessman, buthe was believed to have left Venezuela.Colleagues told CPJ that Sambrano hadpublished a number of investigativepieces concerning the businessman.24 journalists killed: m o t i v e u n c o n f i r m e dAFGHANISTAN: 1Jawed Ahmad, freelanceMarch 11, 2009, KandaharAhmad, 23, was shot while drivingon a main street in Kandahar, not farfrom the governor’s palace, accordingto The Canadian Press and AgenceFrance-Presse. Another car, which theCanadian network CTV identified asa white Toyota, pulled alongside thepassenger side and a gunman openedfire. Ahmad died at the scene, CTVsaid, citing the physician who pronouncedhim dead. The journalist wasknown by his nickname, Jojo, and alsoused the surname Yazemi or Yazamy.Ahmad was a freelance field producerfor CTV and worked for a numberof other news organizations. He alsopursued business projects unrelatedtaries on local politics, AlejandrinaUribe, Notitarde’s editor, told CPJ.Sambrano left Notitarde a year earlierbut had announced his return as acolumnist the morning he was killed,Uribe said. Prior to his death, he hadreported extensively on local drugtrafficking for ABC de la Semana andRadio América, according to newsreports and CPJ interviews.On February 13, Venezuelan authoritiesarrested Rafael Segundo Pérez, aformer sergeant for the Carabobo potojournalism.Paul Workman, a former CTV Afghanistancorrespondent, wrote glowinglyabout Ahmad in a station blogpost: “Jojo was good. He had no trainingin journalism, but pursued stories withenviable passion and courage, driven byan urge to get ahead fast. He wanted totake better pictures than anybody else,he wanted to get better interviews; hesimply wanted to please. And he wasn’tafraid, or at least he never showed it.”Beginning in October 2007, U.S.military forces detained Ahmad andheld him without charge for 11 months.The U.S. Department of Defense saidhe was being held as an “unlawful enemycombatant” but gave no further explanation.The journalist was freed from BagramAir Base in September 2008. Hewas never charged with a crime.No claims of responsibility camefrom any political or militant groupsin the days after his death.BRAZIL: 1José Givonaldo VieiraBezerros FM and Folha do AgresteDecember 14, 2009, BezerrosThree men in a light-colored compactcar intercepted Vieira’s vehicle outsidethe offices of Bezerros FM, a stationowned by the journalist, in the city ofBezerros, about 70 miles (110 kilometers)from Recife, according to thenational daily O Globo. Witnesses toldreporters that one assailant walkedup to Vieira’s car and shot him threetimes in the chest and head. Vieirawas taken to a local clinic and thentransferred to a regional hospital inthe nearby city of Cuararu, where hewas pronounced dead.Vieira, 40, hosted the radio program“Bezerros Comunidade,” whichfocused on local social issues, O Globoreported. He also owned the localnewspaper Folha do Agreste and a musicproduction company.Local police were investigating thekilling, and authorities offered a rewardof 2,000 reals (US$1,200), accordingto news reports. Investigators told localreporters that Vieira’s murder appearedto be a contract killing. They did notimmediately identify a motive.COLOMBIA: 2Diego de Jesús Rojas VelásquezSupía TVSeptember 22, 2009, near SupíaRojas, a reporter and cameraman forthe Supía-based community stationSupía TV in central Caldas province,left the station’s studio around6 p.m. after receiving a purported tipabout an unspecified story, accordingto news reports and CPJ interviews.Shortly after, authorities found hisbody with four gunshot wounds ona highway connecting Caldas to theneighboring Antioquia province, localand international news reportssaid.Witnesses told reporters that theyheard Rojas arguing with several unidentifiedindividuals prior to the gunshots.Investigators found his motorcyclewith the keys in the ignition nearthe scene of the crime, the regionaldaily La Patria reported.Rojas, 52, worked as a journalistin Supía for more than 30 years, colleaguessaid. Juan Carlos Taborda,Supía TV’s director, told La Patriathat he covered sports and socialnews, but did not report on sensitiveissues. Local police and familymembers said he had not receivedany threats, the Spanish news serviceEFE reported. The journalisthad also worked for the regional TVstation Cable Unión and contributedoccasionally to local dailies.Supía Mayor Germán Ovidio Tobónsaid investigators believed thekilling was linked to Rojas’ personallife, the national daily El Tiempo reported.Colombian authorities offereda 15 million peso (US$7,100)reward.272273