Third Journalist Killed in Honduras

Reporters Without Borders recently learned that journalist Gabriel Fino Noriega, a local correspondent of the national radio station Radio América, was gunned down on July 3rd in San Juan Pueblo, in the Caribbean coast province of Atlántida. Both Radio América and the local police said they did not think his murder was in any way linked to the crisis caused by the June 28th coup d'état in Honduras.

Reporters Without Borders said, "We offer our condolences to Fino's family and colleagues, and we urge the police to assign enough resources to the murder investigation so that those responsible and their motive can be identified. A journalist's murder should not be allowed to go unpunished in a region of the country where there is a great deal of drug trafficking."

Fino, who was 42 at the time of his burder was shot by an unidentified gunman as he was leaving Radio Estelar, a local station where he presented a daily news program. He died while being taken to hospital. According to his colleagues, he had not received any threats.

Fino is the third journalist to be killed this year in Honduras. Rafael Munguía, the correspondent of the privately-owned national radio station Radio Cadena Voces, was killed on March 31st in the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula and Osman López of La Tribuna was killed in Tegucigalpa on April 18th.