The International Press Institute (IPI) today joined press freedom groups in urging Peruvian authorities not to rule out a young journalist’s investigative work as a possible motive for his murder last weekend.
Fernando Raymondi, a journalist working for the weekly magazine Caretas, was shot and killed in what national investigative authorities in Peru are calling an attempted robbery of a store owned by his father.
According to local reports, Raymondi, 22, and the magazine’s investigative editor, Américo Zambrano, had been investigating the activities of a group of hired assassins working in the Cañete district.
Investigators from a special unit in the city capital of Lima said during a press conference on Tuesday that preliminary investigations had ruled out “hired assassins” as being responsible for the murder. They nevertheless promised to carry out a full investigation to find the parties responsible for the crime.
According to authorities, Raymondi was finishing his journalism studies in Lima and would travel every weekend to Cañete.
Zambrano this week echoed the calls of local press freedom groups in urging authorities not to rule out Raymondi’s work as a factor in the crime, a message IPI endorsed.
“IPI is pleased that national investigative authorities have pledged to conduct a full investigation into this crime and we hope that they bring those responsible to justice as quickly as possible,” IPI Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi said. “But, in doing so, we urge them to fully explore the possibility that his investigations into the criminal underworld in Cañete may have played a role in his death and to not rule out any theory until it has been fully investigated.”
The Institute of Press and Society (IPYS, for its initials in Spanish), a local press freedom group told IPI this week that they will be keeping a close eye on the investigation.