The editor-in-chief of "La Tribuna" believes the attack is linked to reports the daily has published on the assassination of two university students.
(C-Libre/IFEX) – Between 1:20 and 1:50 a.m. on 5 December 2011, armed men who were in a fired shots at the offices of the daily “La Tribuna”, wounding a security guard, José Manuel Izaguirre, in the abdomen. Daniel Villeda, the daily’s editor-in-chief, told C-Libre that staff members responsible for printing and distributing the newspaper had already left the building when the drive-by shooting took place.
Villeda noted that the situation is very alarming, especially considering the fact that previous attacks on the paper and its personnel have been publicised and reported to the Office of the Human Rights Prosecutor. He said the attacks just keep happening and are becoming more serious in nature.
The editor believes the harassment and attacks to which the daily and its personnel have been subjected are linked to a journalistic investigation they published about the assassination of the son of the rector of the Autonomous University of Honduras, Rafael Vargas, and his friend, Carlos Pineda. In the published articles, police officers are accused of having committed the crime.
Villeda noted that, on 20 November, one of his colleagues who has been involved in the investigation of the university students’ assassination, was shot at in an incident similar to the 5 December shooting.
In a 23 November public statement, “La Tribuna” made known the degree to which its staff members are being harassed and threatened by national police personnel and unidentified individuals.
(Please note this is an abridged translation.)
