Journalist Alfredo Zamora Nolly was told that hired killers had received a cash advance of 3,000 nuevos soles to kill him.
(OLA/IFEX) – On 25 March 2010, journalist Alfredo Zamora Nolly was warned that someone was hiring assassins to kill him. Nolly is host of the programme “Poder Popular” on Radio LEGT, in the province of Padre Abad, Ucayali department.
At 6:30 p.m., Nolly received a call from the Pucallpa jail. The caller warned him that someone wanted to kill him. The caller said that hired killers had received a cash advance of 3,000 nuevos soles (approx. US$ 1,000) to do the job.
“Someone from Huánuco called me to talk about money and a ‘job’,” the caller said. “I asked what the ‘job’ was and he said your name. Someone else had paid him to get rid of you – 3,000 nuevos soles in advance and the rest when it was done. They said you do work with inmates. If I refused the money they said the people who want to kill you would find someone else, so watch out,” said the caller.
Nolly said he knew the caller as he had done social work in the community for the inmates of the prison.
Zamora had recently denounced irregularities in the execution of a special project on the control and reduction of coca farming in the Ucayali region; he also publicly questioned the regional government over certain projects and the purchase of supposed overpriced products; as well, he reported on complaints by the Puerto Azul community against a National Institute of Natural Resources (Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales, INRENA) businessman, who is accused of abusive logging practices and river pollution. In addition, he revealed that police had appropriated US$20,000 from a farming company, which resulted in some officers being criminally prosecuted.
“They won’t shut me up. I am going to continue this type of objective and impartial reporting. This is the theme of my programme. They aren’t going to intimidate me. To silence me would be to restrict my freedom of expression and the right to information of the town of Aguaytía. “I will continue to be relentless in pursuing corruption” said Nolly when speaking with the Observatorio Latinoamericano para la Libertad de Expresión (OLA).
