(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the 14 February 2004 murder of radio journalist Antonio de la Torre Echeandía, in the city of Yungay (400 kilometres north of Lima). The driver of Yungay Mayor Armando León León has been detained as one of the perpetrators of the crime and the mayor is widely suspected of being […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has condemned the 14 February 2004 murder of radio journalist Antonio de la Torre Echeandía, in the city of Yungay (400 kilometres north of Lima). The driver of Yungay Mayor Armando León León has been detained as one of the perpetrators of the crime and the mayor is widely suspected of being the instigator.
The organisation urged the authorities to pursue all leads in order to establish who was behind the killing.
De la Torre Echeandía, the presenter of a news programme on local station Radio Orbita, was fatally stabbed by two individuals as he left a meeting on 14 February. He died as he was being rushed to hospital.
Before dying, the journalist named one of his assailants to onlookers. Based on this testimony, police arrested Hipólito Casiano Vega Jara, the mayor’s driver. Vega Jara was at the meeting and, according to witnesses, had an argument with De la Torre Echeandía. The mayor himself was reportedly present when the argument took place.
Mayor León León, who left Yungay after the murder, is widely suspected by the local population of being the instigator of the murder. According to local press reports, on 17 February residents walled up the entrance to the town hall to prevent the mayor from returning to his office. They also called on local authorities to dismiss him.
Several days prior to his death, De la Torre Echeandía introduced a new segment on his programme entitled “Con verdad y justicia” (“With Truth and Justice”). During this segment, he criticised mismanagement by local officials and allowed listeners to make their often scathing comments on the air.
According to the Press and Society Institute (Instituto Prensa and Sociedad, IPYS), a Lima-based press freedom organisation, the journalist had been receiving threats for several months. The mail and telephone threats were received at the station, particularly after he invited listeners to call in and comment on the air. His home was the target of an attack with a small explosive device on 15 October 2003 and a municipal official struck him on 22 November.