According to media reports, 26-year-old Nery Jeremias Orellana was riding a motorcycle to work in the morning when he was stopped and shot in the head by unidentified assailants. He was found on the road connecting San Lorenzo village to Candelaria. He died later in a hospital.
Orellana headed Radio Joconguera de Candelaria in the province of Lempira near Honduras’ border with El Salvador. According to local media sources, he also worked as a correspondent with Radio Progreso.
The Associated Press reported that the journalist was a supporter of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, and was a member of the National Popular Resistance Front – the group formed after the coup that removed Zelaya from office two years ago.
The regional Commissioner of Police, Juan Carlos Bonilla, told local media that he had assigned a special team to investigate the killing. “We regret this and we will make every effort to ensure that the case will not go unpunished, ” La Prensa reported him as saying.
According to the Honduras National Human Rights Commission, 22 journalists have been killed in Honduras since 2007 – 10 of them in 2010 alone. Only three cases have been solved to date.
Orellana is the third journalist to be killed in Honduras this year, and the 55th worldwide, according to IPI’s Death Watch.
“We call for an immediate and transparent investigation into Orellana’s murder, and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice” said Anthony Mills, IPI Press Freedom Manager. “When crimes against journalists go unpunished, it acts as a catalyst for more violence against the media. We very much hope that the police will live up to their commitments.”