Peru- Radio presenter shot dead in mid-broadcast
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Peruvian judicial authorities to quickly identify those responsible for the shocking murder of a radio presenter who was shot dead in mid-broadcast in Camaná, in the southern region of Arequipa, on 20 November.
Hernán Choquepata Ordóñez, also known as “Randy” Ordóñez, was shot in the head by at least one gunman who stormed into Radio La Ribereña as Ordóñez was presenting a music programme. The presenter, who was alone in the studio at the time, died while being rushed to hospital.
In a programme called “Habla el Pueblo,” Ordóñez interviewed local residents who often complained about the region’s elected authorities. Ordóñez himself was also often openly critical of local leaders during his broadcasts, lambasting the mayors of Camaná and the nearby town of Mariscal Cáceres the week before his murder.
“The leading hypothesis for those investigating this crime must be that the motive was linked to the victim’s work as a journalist,” said Emmanuel Colombié, the head of RSF’s Latin America bureau. “The authorities cannot allow this murder to go unpunished and fade into oblivion. It was an attack on the entire Peruvian media.”
According to colleagues at Radio La Ribereña, Ordóñez recently received death threats and had reported the threats to the police.
Peru is ranked 84th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
