Honduras : opposition radio journalist narrowly escapes murder attempt

[Judi Lynn]

May 3, 2016
Honduras : opposition radio journalist narrowly escapes murder attempt



Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the attempt to murder well-known opposition radio journalist Félix Molina in the Honduran capital yesterday, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, and urges the Honduran authorities to identify those responsible and provide journalists with effective protection.

In the same day, Molina was targeted twice. The first time, he escaped two armed individuals who tried to rob him while he was travelling in a taxi. The second attempt happened a few hours later, when two different individuals attacked him at the same place where he had escaped earlier. This time, they did open fire against the taxi, but Molina managed to take cover behind a seat and the shots hit him in the legs. He is now in a Tegucigalpa hospital where doctors say his injuries are no longer life threatening.

Molina is the director of the community media organisation “Alter Eco” and was the former host of Resistencia, a programme aired by the very popular opposition radio stations, Radio Globo and Radio Progreso. He has been a popular broadcaster ever since the 2009 coup d’état and has received many death threats in connection with his frequent criticism of the government.

He had just pointed out that those arrested for the 3 March murder of environmental activist Berta Cáceres – a murder that shocked the entire country and the international community – were linked to certain Honduran politicians.

More:
https://rsf.org/en/news/honduras-opposition-radio-journalist-narrowly-escapes-murder-attempt

[Judi Lynn]

1. Honduras: Journalist Survives 2 Attacks on Eve of Press Freedom Day

Honduras: Journalist Survives 2 Attacks on Eve of Press Freedom Day

May 04, 2016



In Honduras, a prominent radio journalist has been shot four times, but survived. Félix Molina was reportedly attacked twice in the same day on Monday. He was shot twice in each leg. In a statement released by a human rights group, Molina said he believed he was directly targeted, and vowed to continue "practicing journalism without fear." "I declare myself a survivor of the insecurity that the majority of the country faces," he said. Molina’s shooting came on the eve of World Press Freedom Day.

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/5/4/headlines/honduras_journalist_survives_2_attacks_on_eve_of_press_freedom_day

(Short article, no more at link.)

[Judi Lynn]

2. Honduran Journalist Felix Molina Survives 2 Murder Attempts

Honduran Journalist Felix Molina Survives 2 Murder Attempts
Published 3 May 2016

Honduran rights defenders raised alarm over systematic abuses against activists after radio journalist Felix Molina suffered two attacks in one day.

. . .

Human rights defender and prominent resistance activist Gilberto Rios wrote on social media that it is urgent to spread the news of the attack nationally and internationally. “It is important that the world knows that is happening in Honduras everyday,” Rios wrote. “Freedom of expression is a precious right and there are not many journalists that identify with popular causes. No more assassinations of journalists!”

In the immediate aftermath of the 2009 U.S.-backed coup in Honduras, Molina was a pivotal source of information amid a media blackout around the coup and repression against massive protests taking over the streets. Through his radio program Resistencias, aired on Honduras’ Radio Globo, and other alternative media, he has reported on pro-democracy and resistance movements from the front lines of struggle, despite receiving death threats.

The human rights situation in Honduras has drastically deteriorated since the 2009 coup, and the country has become one of the most dangerous countries in the region for media workers, second only to Mexico. Since the 2009 coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya, 59 journalists have been assassinated in Honduras. Four have been murdered since the beginning of 2016.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Honduran-Journalist-Felix-Molina-Survives-2-Murder-Attempts-20160503-0013.html