(IPYS/IFEX) – Ángel Rojas Montero, former cameraman with the cancelled Hildebrandt programme on Enlace Global television station, was kidnapped for thirty minutes, and threatened with death by an anonymous captor carrying a nine millimetre pistol. The kidnapper accused the journalist of being an “informer for the secret police”. The attack occurred in the afternoon of […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Ángel Rojas Montero, former cameraman with the cancelled Hildebrandt programme on Enlace Global television station, was kidnapped for thirty minutes, and threatened with death by an anonymous captor carrying a nine millimetre pistol. The kidnapper accused the journalist of being an “informer for the secret police”.
The attack occurred in the afternoon of 1 January 2000, in the La Perla district of Callao province, just blocks from the cameraman’s home. The perpetrator made Rojas stop his car and got into it. Rojas thought it was a straight forward assault: “I was prepared to lose my money, even the car, so I said to him ‘Look man, if you want the car, go ahead and take it.”
The aggressor’s response was disconcerting for Rojas. He yelled, “I don’t want your wallet or your car. I’m going to kill you…” He said he knew all the details of Rojas’ life, and added: “Because of you, two of my friends are dead. Start your car. Before I kill you, I’m going to kill one other person. I’m going to do it in front of you so you can see how police informers are killed. Then I will kill you.”
The fact that the car had very little gasoline was very lucky for Rojas, because the kidnapper allowed him to stop at a nearby gas station. There, outside the vehicle and in front of a number of people, the attacker continued threating Rojas. At that point, a red car approached, with five well-dressed men inside. One of them got out of the car, and instead of helping Rojas, grabbed him and led him back to the car, saying in a loud voice to the witnesses that this was “simply a dispute among friends.” Then the man left Rojas alone with the aggressor.
In desperation, the cameraman tried to get rid of the attacker’s weapon. After a struggle, the attacker regained control of the gun and forced Rojas to get out of the car and kneel in front of the rapidly growing group of witnesses. Then, with absolute impunity, the delinquent said: “If I wanted to, I could kill you right now, in front of all these people, and I assure you, nothing would happen.”
Although the violent episode lasted half an hour, and occurred just two and a half blocks from the Alipio Ponce police station, not even one police officer appeared. According to one of the gas station’s employees, the red car was abandoned hours later in a Callao street. However, when there was an attempt to locate the vehicle in order to identify either the owner or its occupants, the car could not be found at any regional police station.
According to the report published in the “Liberacion” newspaper, directed by César Hildebrandt, Rojas survived this nightmare in order to bring a message to the newspaper’s director, but this time the message was delivered at the expense of the best cameraman from his cancelled TV programme.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
- calling for a thorough investigation into the incident
Appeals To
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
Alberto Bustamante Belaunde
President of the Congress of Ministers
Fax: +51 1 447 1628 / 475 0689
Martha Hildebrandt Pérez
President of the Congress of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 426 8290
Miguel Aljovín Swayne
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474
Fernando Dianderas Otonne
Director General of the Peruvian National Police
Fax: +51 1 225 1775
Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
