Several journalists targeted during protests calling for president’s resignation
The slaying of a radio reporter in Haiti has prompted media organizations to renew demands that police protect them and give them space to work, as attacks on journalists in the country escalate.
An unidentified gunman shot journalist Rospide Petion as he drove home late Monday in a car owned by Radio Sans Fin. The 45-year-old reporter had just finished a radio program in which he talked about corruption allegations against the administration of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
“These days are not good for journalists and media,” Frantz Duval, editor of the newspaper Le Nouvelliste, tweeted Tuesday.
Moïse issued a statement Tuesday, calling the killing a “heinous act” that weighed heavily on Haiti’s press. “I vehemently condemn this villainous crime,” said the president, who also criticized other attacks on local media organizations.
Petion was married and had three children.
Journalists hit with rubber bullets, rocks
The shooting came amid days of sometimes violent street protests calling for the resignation of Moïse, during which several journalists have been attacked. Some protesters accuse some media outlets of being pro-government.
On Sunday, a photographer with Le Nouvelliste was injured by a rubber bullet, and protesters tried to attack a videographer with Radio Television Nationale d’Haiti. On Monday, reporters with Radio Tele Ginen were targeted with rocks as protesters vandalized their cars.
Haitian media organizations called on people to stop attacking reporters.
Journalist shot dead amid anti-government protests in #Haitihttps://t.co/6K5j0JOTsq— RSF in English (@RSF_en) June 11, 2019
“The press is for everyone. To inform everyone. In all kinds of situations,” they said in a statement, adding that everyone is free to follow whatever media they choose. Continue reading