The country dawned on Wednesday with tragic news. Ramiro Raúl Celis LópezRadio press man The karibeña In Iquitos, he was shot dead this morning in an act that has been convicted of multiple journalistic guilds.
The crime occurred around 5:20 am at the intersection of Brazil and Fanning streets, when the communicator was heading to his workplace to drive his program Zero hour.
According to the disseminated videos and witnesses of the fact, the victim was aboard a motorcycle taxi when he was intercepted by two motorcycle hitmen. One of the three shots they made hit his head, causing death immediately.
Zuliana Lainez, president of the national Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP), condemned, in dialogue with Infobae Peruthis new attack and expressed concern about the pattern of violence that seems to consolidate against press men and women in the country.
“First, share the shock that there is at this time, not only among the journalists of Iquitos, but of the entire national territory. This is the second journalist who murders this year. There are already four months and days of the year and we already have two murdered journalists.”
The ANP president also recalled that he had not registered journalists murder for eight years, and criticized the lack of progress in the case of Gastón Medina, a journalist killed in January in Ica.
“More than three months have passed and there is no result of the investigation. Journalist who received threats and in fact at the time we said: if this is unpunished, we would not surprise us to begin to present more cases of journalists killed in regions.”
-In that sense, Lainez was emphatic in demanding that the hypothesis related to his journalistic work prioritize. “Our demand is clear: when they kill a press man, the professional track has to be privileged. That the investigation then says it was a personal issue, whatever, but the professional track must be privileged whenever it is the crime of a journalist,” he said.
He also criticized the delay in the response of the Public Ministry, which took more than an hour and a half to reach the crime scene, preventing the lifting of the body. In addition, he stressed that the theft was not the motive of the crime, since no belonging to the victim was stolen.
“Raúl had a very acidic style. He was very critical of local authorities, and the police should privilege that track. It is clear that in what happened today, the goal was Raúl Célis. Now what to identify is who has sent it to kill and why.”
To the voice of the ANP other organizations were added. He Press and Society Institute (IPYS) condemned the murder and pointed out that it is not ruled out that he is linked to his informative work. They demanded urgent investigation to clarify what happened and sanction those responsible.
The Peruvian press council also spoke and regretted that another colleague has been the victim of violence, so “asks for clear investigations about what happened.”
For its part, the Universal Corporation, a company in charge of the station where Célis worked, expressed its deep regret through a statement, and demanded that the authorities act quickly.
“We strongly reject violence and impunity that seem to reign in our streets. We demand the strengthening of the institutions responsible for ensuring the security of all citizens, and the full exercise of the authority to impose order and peace in Iquitos and throughout the country.”
Meanwhile, Raúl Célis’s family, his colleagues and the national journalistic community demand justice. The murder of the driver of Zero hour Relavive the urgent call for the State to effectively protect communicators and guarantee the free exercise of journalism, especially in regions where the discomfort of factual powers.
