Honduran TV host Jos Arita shot dead in Puerto Cortes

[Judi Lynn]

A soldier patrols the shores of Puerto Cortes, in the Honduran Caribbean, in the lead up to a hurricane in August
2016. Gunmen killed the host of a TV commentary show in the Honduran city, on November 25, 2019.
(AFP/Orlando Sierra)


Honduran TV host José Arita shot dead in Puerto Cortés
November 27, 2019 2:41 PM ET

Amsterdam, November 27, 2019— The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the killing of TV host José Arita in northern Honduras, and urged authorities to conduct a credible and exhaustive investigation into the killing and bring those responsible to justice.

On November 25, two unidentified individuals shot Arita outside a convenience store in the city of Puerto Cortés, shortly after he finished broadcasting his show at the nearby offices of Puerto Visión, the local television station where he worked, according to Marlon Lagos, chief of criminal investigations in the region. Arita was the host of “La Hora de la Verdad” (The Hour of Truth), a nightly show on the station, according to the Honduran newspaper El Heraldo.

“The killing of television host José Arita is a stark reminder of the deadly consequences of authorities’ inaction in tackling impunity in Honduras,” said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick in New York. “The Honduran government must take serious measures to bring Arita’s killers to justice and to end the deadly violence against those who seek to keep their fellow citizens informed.”

Arita hosted “La Hora de la Verdad,” a late-night commentary show where he discussed local politics in Puerto Cortés, a city on Honduras’ Caribbean coast, according to a journalist who knew Arita and who spoke with CPJ on condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns. Arita was critical of local opposition politicians in his broadcasts, the journalist said.

More:
https://cpj.org/2019/11/honduran-tv-host-jose-arita-shot-dead-puerto-cortes.php



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Google translated:



Journalist number 84 killed in Honduras since 2001

November 26, 2019

TEGUCIGALPA (AP) - A journalist was shot dead in the city of Puerto Cortés, in northern Honduras, and became the 84th communicator killed in the country since 2001.

The incident occurred on Monday night minutes after José Arita left his workplace on Channel 12, Security Secretariat spokesman Jair Meza Barahona told The Associated Press.

The official explained that the first investigations established that outside the station there were four men waiting for Arita, who when he saw him leave began to shoot at point blank range. "It is waiting for the forensic medical examination to validate it with the evidence found at the crime scene and have a line of investigation to see why they committed the act and identify those who committed it," he said.

Meza Barahona commented that the crime is possibly linked to the exercise of the profession due to the dynamics in which the events occurred, although he said that it is not ruled out that he was committed by common crime.

In a dialogue with the AP, the president of the College of Journalists of Honduras, Dagoberto Rodríguez, lamented the murder of the communicator and demanded that the authorities be investigated since eight crimes of media workers have been recorded so far this year.

https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2019/11/26/matan-a-periodista-numero-84-en-honduras-desde-2001/

[shenmue]

1. Oh no