Press group condemns slaying of Guatemala journalist, urges officials to find, punish killers

[Judi Lynn]

Press group condemns slaying of Guatemala journalist, urges officials to find, punish killers
By The Associated Press August 20, 2013 9:02 PM

GUATEMALA CITY - The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists is calling on the government of Guatemala to investigate and punish those responsible for the killing of a local TV anchor, Carlos Alberto Orellana Chavez.

The committee said Tuesday that Orellana Chavez worked for a local cable TV channel and had denounced local corruption.

The National Police say Orellana Chavez's body was found Monday on a dirt road near San Bernardino in southern Guatemala. He was 62.

Orellana Chavez had served as a mayor of another township from 2000 to 2004 and he was the fourth journalist killed in Guatemala this year.

The discovery of Orellana Chavez's body comes one week after gunmen wounded print and radio journalist Freddy Rodas. Rodas works for the newspaper Al Dia and for Radio Sonora.

http://www.canada.com/news/Press+group+condemns+slaying+Guatemala+journalist+urges+officials/8813044/story.html

(Short article, no more at link.)

[Judi Lynn]

1. One journalist murdered, another attacked, in Guatemala

One journalist murdered, another attacked, in Guatemala

New York, August 20, 2013--Authorities in Guatemala should conduct a full investigation into the murder of a TV and radio journalist who was found on Monday after being reported missing for several hours, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Carlos Alberto Orellana Chávez was killed seven days after another journalist was shot and wounded in the same state.

"Authorities must thoroughly investigate the murder of Carlos Alberto Orellana Chávez and the shooting of Fredy Rodas, determine the motives, and bring those responsible to justice," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas. "If these attacks go unresolved, Guatemalan journalists are likely to face more and more danger."

Orellana's body was found in the southwestern department of Suchitepéquez late Monday with a bullet wound in his head, according to news reports. Unidentified assailants had abducted him from his car after he had left his home early Monday morning, the reports said.

Authorities said they found Orellana's vehicle with all of his belongings and that the attack did not appear to be a robbery. Interior Minister Mauricio López Bonilla said the crime did not appear to be related to Orellana's journalistic work, but offered no evidence or further details, according to news reports.

More:
http://www.cpj.org/2013/08/one-journalist-murdered-another-attacked-in-guatem.php