Motive not yet known in radio journalist’s fatal shooting

Reporters Without Borders hopes that the reason will soon be known for radio journalist Pierre-Richard Alexandre’s fatal shooting by an individual identified as Baudelaire Augustin in Saint-Marc, in the north-central department of Artibonite, on 17 May. A correspondent for the national radio station Radio Kiskeya and the host of a daily political discussion programme on local Radio Delta, Alexandre died of his gunshot injury to the stomach on the night of 19 May after initially appearing to recover in hospital. “Alexandre’s professionalism as a journalist was widely acknowledged and we express our full support for his wife, two children and colleagues,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Following his alleged killer’s arrest, the police should be able to quickly establish whether or not his death was linked to his work as journalist. In either case, journalists’ safety continues to a matter of concern in Haiti, where the political climate is a source of intermittent tension.” Alexandre, 40, was in his Saint-Marc home when the fatal shot appeared to have been fired as a result of a neighbourhood incident. Was he hit by a stray bullet or was he deliberately shot? This is up to the police to determine. Alexandre’s death follows the murder in March of fellow journalist Georges Honorat, a former member of the management of the weekly Haïti Progrès who had of late been working for the press department at the prime minister’s office. Although Haiti is ranked 49th out of 179 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index – an improvement on previous years – its journalists still experience recurring security problems. Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for the truth about the April 2000 murder of Radio Haïti Inter director Jean Dominique, noting that Radio Télé Ginen journalists were attacked in Port-au-Prince on 8 May, the day that a judge questioned former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide about the Dominique murder.