Journalist Jessica Johana Pavón Osorto received a number of threatening messages on her mobile, referring to an attempted attack on journalist Carol Cabrera.
(C-Libre/IFEX) – On 13 May 2010, journalist Jessica Johana Pavón Osorto received a number of threatening messages. Pavón is the host of the programmes “Notiseis Matutino” (Morning News) and “Notiseis Nocturno” (Evening News), broadcast on Canal 6.
Pavón told C-Libre that at around 6:30 p.m. on 13 May, she received a text message on her mobile, and then immediately afterward a call from an unidentified individual who asked her, “did you get the message? Check your mobile. We are going to kill you, bitch.”
Two threatening text messages were then sent to her mobile saying “you feel that your death is near . . . you are dressed in white” and “When we find you we are going to rip your head off. Get ready, it’s your turn at Canal 6. Orlin Castro managed to escape but you won’t be so lucky.”
Pavón informed the National Police about the threats and a police officer was assigned to accompany the journalist from the TV station to her home.
After Pavón returned home, she received more text messages, which warned, “those dogs are not going to always be with you, I don’t know when but your time is coming . . . same as when we wanted to kill Carol Cabrera (a Canal 8 journalist), but instead we killed her colleague Joseph. Don’t put those dogs on the phone, our business is with you.”
Pavón is 26 years old and has been working in the Tegucigalpa offices of Canal 6 for four years.
This latest incident comes on the heels of other threats issued in April against journalists in the northern part of the country, in particular the staff of Radio Progreso. Moreover, C-Libre noted that six journalists and a radio announcer have been killed in Honduras since the beginning of 2010.
