Carlos Alberto Medina Polanco has been told to stop calling for an investigation into the murder of his brother, or he will "meet the same fate".
(C-Libre/IFEX) – Journalist Carlos Alberto Medina Polanco, the brother of assassinated journalist Héctor Francisco Medina Polanco, has reported to C-Libre that he has been receiving death threats via messages on his mobile phone. In the messages he has been told to stop demanding an investigation into his brother’s death or he will “meet the same fate.” He also noted that he has been followed by individuals on a motorcycle when he leaves the radio station for which he works in the city of San Pedro Sula. As a result, he has taken a temporary leave of absence from his position at the station. In addition, he reported that, on 10 June 2011, his 16-year-old daughter was kidnapped, assaulted and questioned about his activities for three hours. He said the National Criminal Investigations Department (Dirección Nacional de Investigación Criminal, DNIC) is aware of the incident involving his daughter.
“Despite the fact that the police have proof that my family and I have suffered attacks and been the target of threats, they still have not provided us with protection,” Carlos Medina Polanco said. “The Department 18 police chief said that he does not have enough officers to provide us with protection and that the best he can do is patrol the house, which has not happened.”
Héctor Medina Polanco was assassinated on 10 May by hit men who shot him four times in the neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, in the municipality of Morazán, Yoro department. He had worked for the Omega Visión television station for six years and, according to Carlos Medina Polanco, reported on the political and social situation in the area and had implicated public officials in acts of corruption.
According to other sources consulted by C-Libre, the DNIC knows the names of the alleged hit men that murdered Héctor Medina Polanco as well as the amount of money they were allegedly paid for carrying out the assassination. Carlos Medina Polanco noted that both President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and Security Minister Oscar Álvarez have promised to bring the hit men as well as the masterminds behind the assassination to justice but that to date they are still awaiting information about any results in the investigation.
