(APG/IFEX) – The following is a 1 June 2004 APG press release: APG DEMANDS THAT PROTECTION BE PROVIDED TO JOURNALISTS HECTOR RAMÍREZ RUBIO AND EDUARDO MAAZ BOL The APG’s Press Freedom Committee has called on the Guatemalan authorities to ensure the safety of journalist Héctor Ramírez Rubio and regional correspondent Eduardo Maaz Bol. Ramírez Rubio […]
(APG/IFEX) – The following is a 1 June 2004 APG press release:
APG DEMANDS THAT PROTECTION BE PROVIDED TO JOURNALISTS HECTOR RAMÍREZ RUBIO AND EDUARDO MAAZ BOL
The APG’s Press Freedom Committee has called on the Guatemalan authorities to ensure the safety of journalist Héctor Ramírez Rubio and regional correspondent Eduardo Maaz Bol. Ramírez Rubio is the son of Héctor Ramírez, the so-called “Reporter X” (“Reportero X”), who died on 24 July 2003.
According to Ramírez Rubio, unidentified individuals arrived at his home to threaten him a few days after a court ruled that former political leader Efraín Ríos Montt should be placed under house arrest for his role in the 24 and 25 July 2003 disturbances that resulted in Héctor Ramírez’s death and damage to several buildings. The journalist said the individuals arrived at his home in Guatemala City’s Zone 2 in a vehicle with no licence plates and threatened him because of the complaint he and his brother launched, in which they asked the courts to investigate the death of their father.
Maaz Bol said that on 29 May 2004, members of an alleged organised crime group that operates in Cobán, Alta Verapaz department, threatened him, saying that in a period of no more than three days they would kill him.
The threats against Ramírez Rubio and Maaz Bol constitute a threat against the Guatemalan press, which during the last government’s administration was the target of many assaults, including the deaths of Mynor Alegría and Héctor Ramírez, as well as the kidnapping of four Prensa Libre newspaper reporters.
The Press Freedom Committee strongly condemns these incidents and demands that the Public Prosecutor’s Office, particularly the Special Prosecutor for Crimes against Journalists and Union Organisers, immediately launch an investigation into these actions and report on any findings.
Guatemala, 1 June 2004
