IAPA seeks inquiry into death of Brazilian journalist p. 21

By: Editorial Staff THE COMMITTEE ON Freedom of Press and Information of the Inter American Press Association condemned the assassination of a Brazilian journalist and asked authorities for a prompt investigation of the matter "as the only guarantee of freedom of the press."
Reinaldo Cotinho da Silva, 53, owner of the weekly Cachoeiras Jornal, of the village of Cachoeiras de Macac, in Rio de Janeiro State, was murdered on Aug. 29 by an unknown assassin.
The assailant fired 14 shots at close range with a 45 mm pistol while the journalist was driving his car through the neighboring town of Sao Goncalo, according to reports.
Committee Chairman Danilio Arbilla said the IAPA is closely following the police investigation since "it is our intention that no crime against a journalist go unpunished.
"Such violence legitimizes censorship of information and imposes a climate of terror that restricts the work of the press."
In a letter to Rio de Janeiro State Governor Marcello Nunes Alencar, Arbilla, editor of the weekly Seminario Buqueda, Montevideo, Uruguay, asked for guarantees that a prompt investigation of the crime be carried out and that those responsible be brought to justice.
Police theorize that the journalist was assassinated because of charges he had published about corruption, or to block dissemination of certain documents.
At the same time, IAPA also asked Peruvian authorities for guarantees in the wake of an attack on newsman Alejandro Coronado and his family, in the village of Huanta-Ayacucho, on Aug. 28.
Coronado was attacked in reprisal for charges regarding the drug traffic, which he made public in a broadcast on Channel 4, where he is a reporter. The attack was carried out by an unknown group who sprayed his house with machine gun bullets.