Indian, 2 Colombians slain because they were journalists

By freedomforum.org staff

07.09.02

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Three names are being added this week to the Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial list of journalists killed because of their work — one from India and two from Colombia.

Paritosh Pandey, 36, a senior crime reporter with the Hindi-language daily Jansatta Express, was fatally shot on April 14 by two unidentified assailants in his house in Lucknow, India. His colleagues contend that his murder is linked to his stories about the Indian underground and terrorism in the region. One newspaper referred to stories he had done for a television station about narcotics smuggling as a possible reason for the killing.

Pandey’s murder has brought a number of protests from domestic and international media organizations, from the president of the Indian Newspaper Association to the World Association of Newspapers in Paris.

In Colombia, Efrain Alberto Varela Noriega, who worked for Radio Meridiano 70 in Arauca, was riding in his car with two relatives on June 28 when gunmen stopped the vehicle on a rural road 280 miles north of the capital, Bogota. They forced him out of the car and fatally shot him in the face and chest.

According to local news reports, Varela had received death threats from rightwing paramilitary groups that have been fighting leftist guerrillas for control of drug crops in Arauca province.

On July 1, the Vienna-based International Press Institute wrote to the president of Colombia, protesting the murder of Varela and stating that "Colombia has long proven to be the most dangerous country in the world to work as a journalist."

Orlando Sierra Hernandez, 42, a columnist and deputy editor of La Patria, a daily newspaper in Manizales, Colombia, was murdered on Jan. 30.

Sierra, who was shot while returning to his office after lunch, frequently reported on government corruption as well as on abuses committed by both leftist guerrillas and rightwing paramilitary groups. However, his newspaper said they knew of no specific threats to Sierra.

Related

Journalists in peril
Preliminary list of journalists who died in the line of duty in 2002.  01.15.03