Bikya Masr Staff | 21 September 2012
The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press
freedom today condemned the recent killings of two journalists in
South-East Asia – one in Cambodia and the other in the Philippines –
and called for investigations into their deaths.
“I am deeply concerned by the killing of Hang Serei Oudom,” the
Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, said in a news release. “This is
the first murder of a journalist in Cambodia in a long time and I trust
that the Cambodian authorities will do all in their power to bring
those responsible for this crime to justice.”
“I condemn the murder of Eddie Jesus Apostol. It is important that
the authorities conduct a serious investigation into this killing and
ensure that the perpetrators are punished for their crime,” Bokova
added in another news release.
According to UNESCO, Oudom was a 44-year-old reporter covering
environmental issues for the Vorakchun Khmer Daily and had been working
on articles about illegal logging. On September 11, his body was found
in the boot of his car at a cashew nut plantation in the northern
province of Ratanakiri.
Leasing airtime on DXND Radio, Apostol was a former town councilor
who co-hosted a weekly radio program about issues of concern to
indigenous people and science in the southern province of Maguindanao
in the Philippines. He was found dead on September 1 near the town of
Sultan sa Barongis.
Forty-eight journalists and media workers, including Apostol, have been killed in the Philippines since 2008.
“Crimes against media personnel must be brought to justice to
prevent a climate of fear from constricting journalists’ ability to
claim their human and professional right to freedom of expression,”
Bokova added.
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