In Honduras, attacker holds gun to head of Radio Progreso anchor Snchez

[Judi Lynn]

October 3, 2019 3:11 PM ET



Miami, October 3, 2019 —Honduran authorities must immediately investigate an attack on journalist Sandra Maribel Sánchez and guarantee the safety of the press in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On September 26, at around 5:30 p.m., an unidentified man approached Sánchez, a reporter and anchor for local broadcaster Radio Progreso, while she was exiting her car in Tegucigalpa and pointed a gun at her head, demanding she get back in her vehicle, Sánchez said during a press conference aired by her employer. At that moment, another car drove close by the scene, prompting the man to flee on a motorcycle, she said.

Sánchez told CPJ in a phone call that she has refused to report the incident to authorities or file a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office, arguing that her previous complaints have gone unresolved. “The justice system in the country is in a deplorable state,” she added.

"Honduran authorities must take swift action to investigate the attack on Sandra Maribel Sánchez, bring those responsible to justice, and commit to guaranteeing the safety of journalists under threat," said CPJ Central and South America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick in New York. " It is a damning indictment on Honduran authorities that a journalist would not bother to report an attack to police in the knowledge that nothing will be done.”

More:
https://cpj.org/2019/10/journalist-sandra-maribel-sanchez-escapes-attack-a.php