Francisco Héctor Medina Polanco had previously received death threats for his reports on corruption.
(OLA/IFEX) – On 10 May 2011, Francisco Héctor Medina Polanco, director of a news programme broadcast on the Omega Visión cable company, was gunned down by three unknown individuals.
The incident occurred in the Yoro department, at 7:30 p.m. The journalist had finished working on his programme and was a few blocks from his house when he was shot in the back and arm by the assailants, who fled on a motorcycle. Medina was taken to the Mario Catarino Rivas hospital, in San Pedro de Sula, 243 km north of Tegucigalpa, where he died a few hours later.
The 35-year-old journalist had reported on alleged corruption implicating the Morazán municipal authorities. He had also reported on land conflicts involving local ranch owners.
His brother, Carlos Medina Polanco, explained that the journalist had filed complaints with national and international officials over the death threats he had received because of his criticisms of the corruption in Morazán. He also said that Francisco Medina had been targeted on two previous occasions but had managed to escape unharmed.
According to a FELATRACS report, 10 journalists were killed in 2010 in connection with their profession. Impunity reigns in the country and the cases have not been solved. As a result, journalists have had to seek international support in order to ensure that the government investigates these incidents.
(Please note this is an abridged translation).
