Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009journalists killed: motive unconfirmedWasi Ahmad QureshiDaily Azadi and Balochistan ExpressApril 16, 2009, KhuzdarGunmen fired at point-blank range onQureshi and his colleague, MuhammadSiddiq Mosiani, near a newsstand inKhuzdar district in the southwesternprovince of Baluchistan on April 11,according to Qureshi’s editor and localnews reports. Qureshi was treated in alocal hospital for two gunshot woundsto the stomach, but he died five dayslater, news reports said. Mosiani survived,according to the reports.The motive for the attack was not immediatelyclear, according to Asif Baloch,editor of the Quetta-based DailyAzadi. Local officials said they were investigatingbut had made no progress,he said. Although some news reportssaid militants from the separatist organizationBaluchistan Liberation Armycarried out the shooting, Baloch saidthey had not claimed responsibilityand had no known reason to attack thejournalist.Siddique Bacha Khan, Aaj TVAugust 14, 2009, MardanUnidentified assailants shot BachaKhan in the city of Mardan in Pakistan’srestive North West Frontier Province,according to news reports.A news correspondent for the independentAaj TV, Bacha Khan wasambushed and shot at close range, thechannel reported on its Web site. Earlier,he had interviewed family mem-bers of a former military official whowas killed by the Taliban, and wasreturning to the office when he wasshot, the channel’s bureau chief, ImtiazAwan, said on its Web site.The journalist died en route to thehospital, according to Aaj TV and thePakistan Federal Union of Journalists.PHILIPPINES: 2Badrodin Abbas, DXCMJanuary 22, 2009, Cotabato CityAbbas was shot in the head by twomotorcycle-riding assailants while hewas driving a minivan in CotabatoCity, according to local news reports.The journalist was a “block-time”commentator, leasing airtime and solicitinghis own sponsors, the reportssaid. He died of a head wound, PoliceChief Willie Dangane told reporters.Dangane said the killing was capturedon a closed-circuit video camera,according to news reports. He initiallytold reporters that Abbas’ workmay have been a motive, but later saidthe murder was more likely a result ofmistaken identity.Abbas had established a reputationfor hard-hitting commentaries, whichincluded recent pieces on a proposedpeace deal between the governmentand a Muslim rebel group known asthe Moro Islamic Liberation Front, accordingto press reports. The two sideshad engaged in an on-and-off armedconflict for nearly four decades.Godofredo Linao Jr., Radyo NatinJuly 27, 2009, BaraboLinao, 49, was shot in Barabo township,Surigao del Sur province, about545 miles (875 kilometers) from thecapital, Manila, according to local pressfreedom groups and news reports.Linao hosted a weekly public affairsprogram called “Straight to the Point”on Radyo Natin, and worked as a discjockey for another radio station, thereports said. He went to Barabo in responseto a text message at around 1a.m., according to the National Unionof Journalists of the Philippines, whichquoted Radyo Natin station managerMario Alviso. The journalist was gettingon his motorcycle when two unidentifiedmen fired at him four times.The motive for the murder was notclear. Task Force USIG, a unit of thePhilippines National Police dedicatedto investigating media and politicalmurders, said it considered his radiobroadcasts a possible motive in theattack. Alviso said he received threateningtext messages after Linao’s murder,according to the Center for MediaFreedom and Responsibility (CMFR).Linao, a “block-timer” who leasedairtime from Radyo Natin, was alsoa spokesman for provincial Vice Gov.Librado Navarro, according to CMFR.Navarro was a sponsor of the radioprogram. The journalist’s wife toldCMFR that he had planned to run as acandidate in the 2010 provincial boardelections and had received threats whilerunning for political posts in the past.REPUBLIC OF CONGO: 1Bruno Jacquet Ossébi, MwindaFebruary 2, 2009, BrazzavilleOssébi, an outspoken columnist forthe France-based Congolese onlinenewspaper Mwinda, died in a militaryhospital in the capital, Brazzaville,12 days after suffering second-degreeburns in a mysterious fire at his homethat also killed his girlfriend and her8- and 10-year-old children. FrenchEmbassy press attaché Bertrand deMarignan told CPJ that Ossébi, whohad dual Congolese and French citizenship,died a day before a scheduledmedical evacuation to France.Ossébi’s death certificate, obtainedby CPJ, identified the cause of deathas “cardio-respiratory arrest.” No autopsywas done, according to familymembers. An attending physician,who spoke to CPJ on condition ofanonymity because he was not authorizedto discuss the case, said thatthe journalist’s condition had beenimproving, but that burn victims arevulnerable to sudden reversals duringrecovery.The mystery surrounding the originand circumstances of the fire, coupledwith Ossébi’s activism in citizen journalism,led to numerous questions. An officialBrazzaville fire service report identifiedthe cause of the blaze as a “shortcircuit,” although Lt. Col. AlphonseYamboula, commander of the Brazzavillefire rescue center, acknowledged ina CPJ interview that the finding was not280281