(APG/IFEX) – The following is an 18 April 2002 press release by the APG Press Freedom Committee: The APG Press Freedom Committee condemns the 10 April kidnapping of journalist David Herrera that resulted in his decision to flee into exile. Furthermore, the Committee urges the authorities to promptly investigate the case, which is an affront […]
(APG/IFEX) – The following is an 18 April 2002 press release by the APG Press Freedom Committee:
The APG Press Freedom Committee condemns the 10 April kidnapping of journalist David Herrera that resulted in his decision to flee into exile. Furthermore, the Committee urges the authorities to promptly investigate the case, which is an affront to the country’s journalistic profession.
Herrera worked in collaboration with journalists and foreign film crews that visited Guatemala, investigating cases that at times involved human rights related stories.
According to the information obtained by the Committee, Herrera was working with a correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) who was gathering information on certain human rights cases.
As he was leaving his office in the city centre, Herrera was attacked by four men who forced the journalist into his rental car and drove off with him.
According to the Guatemalan journalist, who has now fled the country, his captors threatened to kill him. They asked him for the “material,” which he understood as the recordings of sensitive interviews carried out the day before his kidnapping.
According to Herrera, he managed to jump out of the moving car and escape. However, he left behind all the documents he had been carrying, including his passport. Following the incident he was hospitalised and later went into hiding.
When he emerged from hiding, he was once again pursued by two armed men. As a result, he decided to seek protection and flee the country.
Herrera has worked with a number of foreign media organisations. He left the country under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) and with the help of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
THE APG PRESS FREEDOM COMMITTEE strongly condemns this latest attack and furthermore laments the fact that methods of the past, particularly those customarily used by paramilitary groups, are once again being practiced in the country.
The Committee urges the government to launch a prompt investigation and punish those responsible for this act of repression. Finally it congratulates the national and international journalistic community for having expressed their support for our colleague David Herrera.
Guatemala, 18 April 2002.
