Carlos Fernández, an active member of RAPCOS, an alerts and protection network for journalists and communicators, was killed on the night of 5 February 2015 in the municipality of Roatán, in the Islas de la Bahía department.
This is a translation of a statement that was originally published on conexihon.hn on 6 February 2015.
Carlos Fernández, an active member of RAPCOS, an alerts and protection network for journalists and communicators, was killed on the night of 5 February 2015 in the municipality of Roatán, in the Islas de la Bahía department, which is located off the Atlantic coast of Honduras.
After finishing work at the news programme “Ciudad Desnuda” (Naked City), on Canal 27, Fernández went to the home of a colleague and then to his own home. He was walking near the fire station, close to the headquarters of the National Telecommunications Company (Hondutel) in Coxen Hole, at about 10pm, when was shot in the chest and the temple. According to preliminary information from the national press, his killers had been waiting for him near his home.
On 6 February detectives arrived from the criminal investigation unit to start the investigations, according to Ramón Romero, president of the RAPCOS Roatán branch and director of the Infoinsular newspaper.
Midday on 5 February Fernández had transit police personnel on his show and received calls from the public, while in the evening he had spoken with a naturopathic doctor. According to Romero, he was not critical in his work as a journalist.
“Everyone is concerned and dismayed. The police are investigating, because in addition to being a journalist, Fernández also sold cars and lent money,” he added.
Fernández was a candidate for mayor in 2013 with the Alianza Patriótica party. With his death, the total of journalists, community media personnel and other media workers who have been killed since 2003 is now 51.
(Please note this is an abridged translation.)
