(RSF/IFEX) – On 1 December 2008, a dynamite bomb went off at around 1:00 a.m. (local time) at the offices of “El Potosí”, a privately owned daily based in the southwestern city of Potosí. The blast caused no injuries but resulted in damages to the station entrance and its computer equipment. Journalist Marvin Valda, who […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 1 December 2008, a dynamite bomb went off at around 1:00 a.m. (local time) at the offices of “El Potosí”, a privately owned daily based in the southwestern city of Potosí. The blast caused no injuries but resulted in damages to the station entrance and its computer equipment.
Journalist Marvin Valda, who was present along with colleagues Carlos Cuiza and Ives Vélez, told Reporters Without Borders that the blast “shook the second floor of the building, where the newspaper operates.” He added that “the street was deserted when we ventured outside.” The police are investigating but have not yet identified those responsible for the attack or their motives.
The newspaper’s management issued a statement ruling out robbery as a motive and saying it thought the attack was carried out “with the aim of intimidating our staff” even if no threats were received in the week prior to the incident. “If our work upsets some people, this attack shows we are on the right road and so we will not modify our course of behaviour,” the statement said.
A dynamite attack on the Sucre-based TV station Canal 13 on 17 November also caused damage but no injuries. “We again urge the authorities to deploy all necessary resources in order to put an end to this violence before there are any victims,” Reporters Without Borders said.
For further information on the bomb attack on Canal 13 in Sucre, see: http://ifex.org/en/content/view/full/98612/
