04. 05. 2005

VICTIMS OF PREMEDITATED MURDERS

NEWYORK, May 4, 2005 – Journalists around the world were usually not accidentally killed in cross fire in the conflicted regions, but were rather the victims of planned murders, said in the statement issued by the Committee for Protection of Journalists (CPJ). The research on the cause of deaths of media workers killed on duty, from January 1, 2000, showed that the most dangerous countries for journalists are Philippines, Iraq, Columbia, Bangladesh and Russia. “By not conducting the investigation and punishing the perpetrators, the governments of these five countries encourage all those who want to silence the media with violence”, said the executive director of the CPJ Ann Cooper. The research carried out on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, May 3, shows that the cause of deaths of 121 out of 191 journalists killed in the last five years was retaliation for their investigations and reporting. Only in several cases the perpetrators were caught and charged, but the people who ordered the murders were never indicted. The analysis determined that the journalists were killed because of their reporting on corruption, crimes, drug trafficking and activities of the rebel groups, while many of them were threatened before they were killed, “which points to the shamelessness of the murderers”, said in the statement. Since 2000, more than 18 journalists were killed in Philippines, 41 in Iraq. The majority of them were killed in the cross fire, making the figure of only 13 journalists being killed intentionally. During the last five years, 11 journalists were killed in Columbia, 9 in Bangladesh and at least 7 in Russia. Only 14 murders of journalists were solved.