Another journalist murdered in Honduras, no end to violence in sight

Reporters Without Borders is shocked to learn that community radio journalist Hernán Cruz Barnica was murdered near Dulce Nombre, a town in the western department of Copán, on the evening of 28 May. He was shot three times in the head. Cruz hosted Otro Nivel, a daily programme about human rights in the region, for local community radio station Opoa, la Voz de la Esperanza. “We urge the authorities to do everything possible to identify those responsible for this horrible crime and bring them to trial,” said Camille Soulier, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Americas desk. “Coming less than two months after Radio Progreso employee Carlos Mejía Orellana was murdered in his home in the northern city of El Progreso on 11 April, Cruz’s murder shows that the situation for journalists continues to be very dangerous in Honduras.” Reporters Without Borders is also very concerned about the continuing threats to Alex Sabillón, the anchor of Hechos de Choloma, a local news programme broadcast by the municipal TV station in the northwestern city of Choloma, a region that has seen many attacks against media personnel in recent years. Currently under the protection of the secretariat for justice and human rights, Sabillón said he was surprised to see an individual photographing him at his home twice last week. Honduras is ranked 129th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.