(PROBIDAD/IFEX) – Journalist Jhony Lagos, editor and founder of the “El Libertador” monthly newspaper, has told the Committee for Free Expression (Comité por la Libre Expresión, C-Libre) that for the past month he has been followed and harassed by unknown individuals who have left him telephone death threats. On 24 November 2004, two individuals went […]
(PROBIDAD/IFEX) – Journalist Jhony Lagos, editor and founder of the “El Libertador” monthly newspaper, has told the Committee for Free Expression (Comité por la Libre Expresión, C-Libre) that for the past month he has been followed and harassed by unknown individuals who have left him telephone death threats.
On 24 November 2004, two individuals went to “El Libertador”‘s offices to ask for Lagos. They then sat in a pick-up truck without licence plates parked outside the office for more than three hours. When the journalist arrived at his home later the same day, he received a number of anonymous telephone calls threatenening him with death.
“Ever since ‘El Libertador’ began publishing in May 2004, we have been threatened and harassed. However, as of 24 November the persecution has intensified,” Lagos told C-Libre.
The journalist explained that during the anonymous calls he has been receiving he has heard shots and church bells, as if at a funeral. “Sometimes the callers disguise their voice and ask if I am Jhony Lagos. Then they hang up,” the journalist said.
In a recent letter to Security Minister Óscar Álvarez, Lagos called attention to the harassment to which he has been subjected and highlighted the fact that, for the last couple of weeks, the unlicenced pick-up truck has often been seen near the newspaper’s offices.
On 9 December, the Center for International Policy (CIP), based in Washington and headed by former United States ambassador Robert White, sent C-Libre a copy of a letter addressed to Honduran President Ricardo Maduro, expressing the CIP’s concern over the threats against Lagos. The newspaper receives most of its funding from the CIP.
In the letter, White reportedly notes that the vehicle that has been spotted near the newspaper’s offices is similar to those used by the Security Ministry’s special operations squads known as “Cobras”.
Since its founding in May, “El Libertador” has focused on investigative journalism and constantly publishes articles condemning corruption.
The information contained in this alert is the responsibility of PROBIDAD. The alert has been prepared with information provided by C-Libre, a coalition of journalists and other citizens that promotes and defends freedom of expression and the right to information in Honduras.
