(PROBIDAD/IFEX) – On 11 October 2007, the National Civil Police announced the capture of José Alfredo Hernández, suspected murderer of radio journalist Salvador Sánchez Roque, who was killed on 20 September. According to the authorities, Hernández is a gang member. He, among others, previously issued death threats against the journalist, believing that the journalist had […]
(PROBIDAD/IFEX) – On 11 October 2007, the National Civil Police announced the capture of José Alfredo Hernández, suspected murderer of radio journalist Salvador Sánchez Roque, who was killed on 20 September.
According to the authorities, Hernández is a gang member. He, among others, previously issued death threats against the journalist, believing that the journalist had incriminated them in his reporting. The arrest was accomplished thanks to the testimony of a witness whose identity is being concealed to shield him or her from possible reprisals.
The 38-year-old Sánchez Roque was a reporter for the radio stations Mi Gente, YSUCA and Maya Visión. He lived in Soyapango in the eastern sector of the capital, San Salvador.
The journalist’s mother told the media that her son was a person who always denounced injustice, and who campaigned against the extortion committed by gangs against public transit in the area.
Journalist Juan José Dalton has reported that El Salvador is one of the most violent countries in Latin America and the world, with a murder rate of 60 for every 100,000 people. Eighty percent of the murders are committed with guns and most go unpunished.
