(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Walter Ricardo Gellibert Larreta has been receiving an increasing number of telephone threats from anonymous callers since 1 January 2003. Gellibert is the owner of the weekly “Informativo Peninsular” and the Santa Elena radio network, based in the Santa Elena peninsula, approximately 650 kilometres from Quito. The threats started after Gellibert’s radio […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Walter Ricardo Gellibert Larreta has been receiving an increasing number of telephone threats from anonymous callers since 1 January 2003. Gellibert is the owner of the weekly “Informativo Peninsular” and the Santa Elena radio network, based in the Santa Elena peninsula, approximately 650 kilometres from Quito.
The threats started after Gellibert’s radio station launched a campaign to highlight the case of his 16-year-old son, who was shot on 29 December 2002. Gellibert’s son survived the attack. According to the journalist, the Latin Kings criminal gang was responsible for the shooting, which his son survived. The gang is active in Guayas province and is responsible for a number of other attacks.
During the radio campaign, Gellibert condemned the gang’s actions. He also announced that he knew the identity of the person who had shot his son and would not stop until he had found the perpetrator.
Gellibert has informed the Ecuadorian Radio and Television Association (Asociacion Ecuatoriana de Radio y Television, AER) and the National Police of the threats. Police are investigating the attack on his son.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:– calling for the journalist’s protection
– urging the police to investigate the origin of the threats and identify and punish those responsible
Appeals To
Colonel Lucio Gutiérrez
President of the Republic
E-mail: saladeprensa@presidencia.ec-gov.net
Inspector Edgaar Vaca
National Police
E-mail: policianacional.gov.ec
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
