| Afghanistan (3)
Bangladesh (1)
China (2)
India (3)
Indonesia (1)
Pakistan (4)
Philippines (8)
Sri Lanka (5)
Afghanistan (3) • Karen Fisher and Christian Struwe, two freelance journalists working for the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, were shot dead on 7 October in Baghlan, a city north of Kabul. According to reports, the two reporters were killed by unidentified gunmen as they were sleeping in their tent. Reportedly, they were in Afghanistan to do research for a documentary. • Abdul Qodus, a cameraman for the private TV station Aryana was killed on 22 July in a suicide bombing in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. According to reports, Qodus was filming the scene of a first suicide bombing, when a second bomber blew himself up. Qodus was allegedly rushed in the Kandahar’s Miwai hospital, where he succumbed to his head injuries. According to local sources, Qodus joined the TV station eight months prior to the attack. The Taliban have reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks.
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Bangladesh (1) • Bellal Hossain Dafadar, correspondent of the daily newspaper Janabani, was attacked and stabbed by five unknown assailants on 14 September. He later succumbed to his injuries. Back to the top
China (2) • Xiao Guopeng, editor of the Anshun Daily died on 19 July as the result of injuries sustained in a violent assault the previous day in the southwestern province of Guizhou. According to local sources, Pan Dengfeng, head of Anshun’s Xinchang county police attacked Guopeng when he saw the editor discussing with Pan’s ex-wife, also an employee of the newpaper. Dengfeng reportedly pounced on the journalist, knocked him down and kicked him repeatedly. Guopeng died on the following day of a cerebral haemorrhage in hospital. According to reports, Pan turned himself in only on 28 July. The motive of the attack remains unclear. • Wu Xianghu, a correspondent for the evening newspaper Taizhou Wanbao, died on 2 February from injuries sustained from a beating carried out by traffic police in October 2005 in the eastern coastal city of Taizhou. The attack was reportedly prompted by an exposé written by Xianghu on high fee collections for electric bicycle licenses. On 20 October, the day after the report appeared in the newspaper, dozens of uniformed traffic officers arrived at the offices of Taizhou Wanbao, assaulted Xianghu, carried him from the building and forced him into a police van. The journalist died of liver and kidney failure after a number of months of hospitalisation.
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India (3) • Shabir Ajmad Dar, a twenty three year old photojournalist, was kidnapped and beheaded on 13, September in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashir. Dar was kidnapped on the night of 13, September, and his head and body were found separately on 14, September. • Arun Narayan Dekate, a correspondent for the Marathi-language daily Tarun Bharat died on 10 June from injuries sustained in an attack that occurred two days earlier. Dekate was riding a motorcycle with a friend when he was attacked and stoned by four people. He was taken to hospital with severe injuries and succumbed two days later. Local police has opened an investigation into the killing. Dekate recently exposed a gambling racket in his newspaper and gave information to the police which apparently helped in the arrest of criminals. He was 30 years old. • Prahlad Goala, a correspondent for the Assamese-language daily Asomiya Khabar was murdered near his home in the district of Golaghat, in the northeastern state of Assam, on 6 January. The journalist was riding a motorcycle when he was apparently rammed by a vehicle and subsequently stabbed to death. Goala’s body was found with multiple stab wounds, many to the head. It is believed more than one assailant carried out the attack. Prior to his murder, Goala had written a series of investigative articles for Asomiya Khabar that linked local forestry service officials to timber smuggling. Investigating authorities have reportedly identified a number of suspects. Zamman Jinnah, a forest warden, was arrested on suspicion of Goala’s murder and released on bail. Jinnah allegedly made death threats against Goala soon after his articles on corruption in the forestry service appeared. Two other suspects, who were not forestry service employees, have also been brought in for questioning.
• Herliyanto, a freelance reporter with the Radar Surabaya, Delta Post, and Jimber News newspapers, was found dead with numerous stab wounds in a forest near the town of Banyuanyar in East Java province, on 29 April. According to reports, Herliyanto was investigating corruption allegations involving school construction funds in the village of Tulupari. An initial police investigation revealed that the journalist was followed by six individuals riding motorcycles just prior to his murder. Herliyanto’s motorcycle was found near his body. His camera and notebook were missing. Pakistan (4) • Mohammad Ismail, Islamabad bureau chief of Pakistan Press International, was found murdered near his home on 1 November. Local police believe his death was caused by blows to the head inflicted by an iron bar. No clear motive is known for the murder. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for an investigation into Ismail’s death. • Maqbool Hussain Siyal, a senior journalist and a district correspondent for the Online News Network, was shot dead on 14 September in the city of Dera Ismail Khan, in north-western Pakistan, an area known for sectarian violence. According to reports, Siyal was on his way to meet Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians leader Nawab Azek, when he was shot in the head by two unidentified gunmen on bicycle. As he was being rushed to nearby hospital, the journalist suffered a serious haemorrhage and died. • The body of Hayatullah Khan, a reporter and photographer who went missing on December 5, 2005, was found on June 16 in the town of Mir Ali, in the North Waziristan region near the Afghan border. According to reports, Khan, had probably been murdered on June 15. He had been shot in the head and was handcuffed when villagers found the body. Hayatullah Khan, who was a reporter for the daily “Ausuf” newspaper and also worked as a photographer for several international news agencies, was captured by five gunmen in December. The day before his abduction, Khan had taken pictures giving evidence that a senior figure from Al-Qaeda had been killed by a US missile and not by a bomb blast, as claimed by the government. Because of his reporting, Khan received numerous threats from local tribesmen, Taliban members and Pakistani security forces. • Munir Ahmed Sangi, a cameraman for the Sindhi-language Kawish Television Network (KTN) was shot on 29 May while covering a gunfight between members of the Unar and Abro tribes in the town of Larkana, in southeast Pakistan’s Sindh district. According to reports, some of the journalist’s colleagues believe he may have been deliberately targeted for the station’s reporting on a jirga, or tribal council, held by leaders of the Unar tribe. An uncle and colleague of Sangi had recently been attacked in connection with KTN’s reports that two children had been punished by the tribal court, PFUJ said. Philippines (8) • Prudencio "Vic" Melendres, a photojournalist for the daily tabloid Tanod was shot dead on 31 July in front of his house, in the capital city of Manilla. According to reports, as he was leaving his house, three gunmen approached Melendres. One of them shot him in the back and in the abdomen. He died instantly. The motive of the attack remains unclear. He was also the cousin of Alberto Orsolino, a photographer for the tabloid Saksi, who was murdered in May, in what is suspected to have been a revenge killing. • Radio broadcaster Armando Pace was shot dead by two unidentified men on 18 July in the city of Digos, on the southern island of Mindanao. According to reports, the journalist was riding home on a motorcycle after hosting his programme at radio DXDS, when two people opened fire on him. He was reportedly hurt in the chest and in the head and taken to hospital, where he died shortly after. Pace was known for his critical commentaries on drugs and local politicians. • Reporter and Radio host, George Vigo and his wife, Maricel Alave-Vigo, also a Radio host, were reportedly gunned down by two unidentified men on 19 June in Kidapawan City, south of Manila. Two men riding a motorcycle shot the couple, as they were on their way home. Both died later in hospital of their injuries. Vigo was a frequent contributor of the local newspapers and was a presentor of a programme for young people entitled "Tingog sa Kabatan-unan" ("Youth voice") on Radio DxND-AM. Alave-Vigo hosted a weekly programme "Kalihukan sa kongreso" ("Congress affairs") on Radio DxND-AM. Known as human activists, they were involved in the creation of the Federation of Reporters for Empowerment & Equality (FREE). Relatives of the couple said they were not aware of any enemies. However the Radio DxND-AM has been targeted several times over the past years. A month ago the station reportedly received a letter containing a poster along with this message "Death to the supporters of the communist Party of the Philippines/New people’s Army/National Democratic Front. Masses, revolt!" Three years ago, a bomb was discovered in the radio station’s parking. • Fernando Batul, a commentator for Radio DZRH in Puerto Princessa, Palawan Island, was shot dead on 22 May. The journalist, who was shot six times, was ambushed by two gunmen on motorcycles as he drove to work. The killing came one week after two hand grenades were thrown at his house, but failed to detonate. The attackers also left a letterthreateningharmto his family if Batul continued his critical broadcasts. Batul was a former vice mayor of Puerto Princessa and had been highly critical of the current mayor. Police have indicated the murder of Batul appeared to be the work of hired killers. Just prior to his murder, Batul had uncovered and broadcast a case of illegal recruitment of workers in which officials were implicated. Four witnesses identified Aaron Golipardo, a member of the national police, as the person who shot Batul from a motorcycle. He was arrested on 24 May. The accomplice has not yet been identified. Police have reported that the motive for the murder may have been the journalist’s comments about Golipardo’s violent behaviour. Batul had accused the policeman on the air of threatening a waitress with his pistol. The police added that Golipardo had already been accused of links to other murders. • Orlando Tapios Mendoza, a part-time newspaper editor and contributor to the local newspapers the Tarlac Profile and Tarlac Patrol, was shot several times by unidentified men while driving home from his farm in Tarlac, a city located 100 kilometres north of Manila on 4 April. Shot several times by his assailants, the journalist sustained fatal wounds to his head and body. At the time of his murder, Mendoza also held a position in the local government that involved resolving land disputes. Prior to joining the journalism profession, Mendoza was responsible for implementing the government’s land reform programme. According to reports, Mendoza had recently been sued for libel by a local faction of the Philippine Guardian Brotherhood, a non-official organization for members of the military. The libel case was dismissed by a local court in late March 2006. Some of the journalist’s recent reporting had also been highly critical of the group. Mendoza was also vice-president of the Camp Marabulos Press Club and director of the Tarlac chapter of the Central Luzon Media Association. • Graciano Aquino, a columnist for the weekly newspaper Central Luzon Forum, was shot dead while watching a cockfight at an arena in the town of Morong, a city north of Manillia on 21 January. According to reports, armed attackers, thought to be members of the Marxist-Leninist Party of the Philippines-Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan, approached Aquino and shot him at close range in the nape of the neck. Prior to joining the newspaper, Aquino was a reporter for the radio station, dzRH. • Rolly Cañete, a radio broadcaster and political publicist, was shot by unidentified gunmen in the southern city of Pagadian on 20 January. According to reports, Cañete’s attackers fled on motorcycle after shooting the journalist three times in the back. Cañete was a part-time broadcaster on three radio stations, two of which are controlled by congressman Antonio Cerilles and his wife provincial governor Aurora Cerilles, the reports said. Both politicians employed Cañete as their publicist. Sri Lanka (5) • Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, managing director of the Tamil newspaper Namathu Eelanadu, and a former parliamentary representative of the Tamil party TULF, was killed on 20 August in his home in the city of Tellippalai, in north-east Sri Lanka. The motive for the killing remains unclear. • Sampath Lakmal de Silva, a freelance journalist specialised in defence questions, was shot dead on 2 July at Dehiwela, in the capital city of Colombo. According to reports, Lakmal was abducted from his parents’ home by unknown men. His body was found three kilometers from the house. The governmental Security Information Centre reported that three bullets were found da Silva’s body. • Two employees of the Tamil-language daily Uthayan were killed in a shooting attack on 2 May. According to reports, gunmen burst into the newspaper’s offices and demanded to see the editor. When they learnt he was absent, they opened fire and shot Suresh Kumar, the newspaper’s marketing manager, and Ranjith Kumar, another employee. Two other people sustained bullet wounds. The day before the killing, the newspaper had published a cartoon of pro-government Tamil leader Douglas Devananda of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP). • Subramaniyam Sugitharajah, a journalist for the Tamil-language daily Sudar Oli, was killed by an unidentified gunman while on his way to work in the eastern port town of Trincomalee on 24 January. The motive behind his slaying is not immediately known, however Sugitharajah had recently reported on the killing of five Tamil students in Trincomalee, according to local news reports. Military spokesmen initially said that the students were killed by their own grenade in a botched attack on the army, but photographs taken by the journalist showed that the men had died of gunshot wounds. |
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