Monday, January 19, 2009

IFJ regrets violence against journalists in Venezuela

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) lamented on Monday the violence suffered by Venezuela's media, resulting in two slain journalist thus far this year.


"January has been a dire month for freedom of expression in Venezuela," said in a press release Gregorio Salazar, the IFJ director for Latin America, Efe quoted. "Two journalists have been murdered, another one survived an assassination attempt and a number of criminal attacks and serious violations against freedom of the press have been conducted, including the decision of the National Assembly (AN) to deny access to the plenary meeting room," added Salazar.

The IFJ denounced the killing of Orel Sambrano, the editor of political weekly ABC, vice-president of local radio station Radio América 890 AM and a columnist of local daily newspaper Notitarde. Sambrano was shot dead last Friday in Valencia, the capital city of central Carabobo state, by two men riding a motorcycle.

Earlier, on January 1st, press photographer Jacinto López was killed in Barquisimeto, the capital city of Lara state. During the occurrence, a colleague of him was injured. The event was attributed to ordinary criminals. Also, Rafael Finol, a journalist working with local daily newspaper El Regional, was shot at his head last week when entering the newspaper head offices.

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