Azerbaijan (1)

Elmar Huseynov, the founder and editor of the hard-hitting opposition weekly news magazine “Monitor”, was gunned down in the stairwell of his apartment building in Baku on the evening of 2 March. The editor died at the scene. According to reports, the attack appears to have been well planned, as a light at the entrance of the apartment building was apparently not working at the time of the murder, which occurred at approximately 21h00, and several telephones in the area had been disconnected. Prior to the attack, Huseynov had received several threats and was reportedly concerned about his security.

Bangladesh (2)

Gautam Das, a reporter for the Dhaka-based daily “Samakal”, was strangled in his bureau office in the town of Faridpur, approximately 60 kilometres outside the capital. The journalist’s body was found on 17 November with fractures to the legs and hand and a nylon rope around his neck, according to local reports. Das was known for his reporting on crime and corruption, as well as sensitive topics such as the activities of Islamic militant groups. Police have reportedly arrested three suspects in connection to his murder.

Sheikh Belaluddin, a correspondent for the Bengali-language daily "Sangram", died on 11 February from injuries sustained in a bomb attack the week before. Belaluddin was injured along with three other journalists when a bomb exploded at a press club in the city of Khulna on 5 February. The bomb, which was hidden in a bag hanging from a motorcycle, detonated as the journalist approached the vehicle. According to international reports, local authorities have arrested a number of suspects.

Brazil (2)

Investigative journalist José Cândido Amorim Pinto was ambushed outside his radio station by two unidentified gunmen early on the morning of 1 July in the city of Carpina, northeastern Brazil. The journalist was shot at approximately 20 times before the men escaped on motorcycle. Known as "Jota Cândido" to his listeners, for the past 19 years, Amorim produced and presented an investigative programme for Rádio Comunitária Alternativa. He often reported on corruption cases, sometimes targeting local politicians in his investigations. Amorim was also a member of the Carpina municipal council. This was the second attack on the journalist in a short time: on 21 May this year, gunmen fired on his car, injuring him. Amorim had also received death threats in the months leading up to his murder.

Ricardo Gonzalves Rocha, owner of the Jornal Vicentino newspaper in the city of São Vicente, in the State of São Paulo, died from three gunshot wounds on 31 March. The shots were reportedly fired into the car Rocha was driving by an individual passing by on a motorcycle. The newspaper owner, considered to be a controversial figure in the town, was also a city councilman for several decades. Although the motive for the murder is unknown, police have dismissed robbery since the journalist’s valuables were found inside his vehicle.

Colombia (1)

Julio Hernando Palacios Sánchez, a host for Radio Lemas in Cúcuta, northeastern Colombia, was shot by unidentified gunmen early on the morning of 11 January. The journalist was ambushed by two assailants on motorcycles as he drove to work. Despite suffering from three gunshot wounds in the chest, Palacios reportedly drove back home and his family took him to a local hospital, where he died two hours later. According to reports, Palacios was an outspoken journalist who devoted a segment of his program to denouncing local corruption. Nine years ago, the journalist survived an attack when assailants hurled a grenade into his office that failed to explode.

Democratic Republic of Congo (1)

Franck Kangundu, political chief of the Kinshasa-based daily newspaper "La Reference Plus" was shot dead early in the morning of 3 November by unidentified gunmen in his home in the Limete district of Kinshasa. The editor’s wife was also killed in the attack. Kangundu, also known as Ngyke, had been the political editor of "La Reference Plus", for ten years. The motive for his slaying was not immediately clear, but local press freedom watchdog Journaliste En Danger (JED) believes the editor’s murder was linked to his professional activities. Witnesses were quoted by the organisation as saying the killers had themselves told Kangundu they had been "sent to kill him." Witnesses also reported a brief altercation between four armed men and the couple, who were returning home from a funeral wake.

Ecuador (1)

Haiti (2)

The body of Jacques Roche was found in the capital Port-au-Prince on 14 July. The journalist’s handcuffed body was found on a Port-au-Prince street, attached to a chair. He had been shot several times and his body bore the signs of torture. Roche was the cultural editor of the Haitian daily “Le Matin”, and also hosted a local television programme. He had been kidnapped four days earlier. According to reports, the journalist was abducted from his car in the Port-au-Prince neighbourhood of Nazon. His captors had reportedly demanded US$250,000 in ransom for his release.

Robenson Laraque, a reporter with the private radio station Tele Contact, died in a Cuban hospital on 4 April from injuries sustained when covering a squirmish between UN troops and members of the disbanded Haitian military in the city of Petit-Goâve on 20 March. According to international reports, Laraque and several colleagues were on the nearby balcony of Tele Contact’s offices, when the journalist was struck by two shots to the head and neck. He was later transferred to a hospital in Cuba due to the gravity of his injuries.

Indonesia (1)

(Presumed Dead) Elyuddin Telaumbanua, a journalist with the daily newspaper Berita Sore, was abducted on the island of Nias off the northwestern coast of Sumatra on 22 August. Mr Telaumbanua was on his way home from a reporting trip when he and another journalist were ambushed by a group of men on motorcycles, who overtook the pair, forcing them to the side of the road. The two journalists were beaten, but only Mr Telaumbanua was abducted. Although investigating authorities have come up some leads, witnesses in the case are reportedly too frightened to testify.

Iraq (22)

Mohammed Haroon, 47, publisher of the weekly newspaper Al-Qadiya and secretary general of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, was shot to death on 19 October by unknown gunmen as he was driving in Baghdad. According to reports, Haroon had recently been threatened and told to resign his position at the syndicate.

Fakher Haider, a correspondent for the “New York Times”, was abducted from his home in the southern city of Basra on the evening of 18 September by several men claiming to be police officers. Haider, 38, who had been with the New York Times for more than two years, also worked for Merbad TV, a local Basra station, the Guardian newspaper in London, National Geographic and other publications. According to reports, his body was found the following day in the city’s Al-Kiblah neighbourhood with at least one gunshot to the head and bruises on his back.

Firas Maadidi, Mosul bureau chief for As-Saffir and chief editor of the local daily “Al-Masar”, was killed outside his home by unidentified gunmen in the al-Noor neighbourhood of the city on 20 September. According to reports, the journalist was shot six times. He was rushed to hospital, where he later died.

Hind Ismail, a 28-year-old reporter for the local daily “As-Saffir”, was kidnapped in the northern city of Mosul on 16 September. Police in the southern suburb of al-Muthana found her body the next morning with a single bullet wound to the head.
Rafed Mahmoud Said Al-Anbagy, a 36-year-old news anchor and director at Diyala, part of the U.S.-backed Iraq Media Network, was shot dead in Za’toun neighborhood in the city of Baaquba, east of Baghdad, while covering a football match on 27 August. Al-Anbagy was interviewing one of the team’s coaches when gunmen opened fire, killing both men. His colleagues reportedly believe al-Anbagy was killed because of his on-air criticism of insurgent groups and former Baathists.

The bullet-riddled body of American freelancer Steven Vincent was found in the southern city of Basra on 3 August. Vincent was in Iraq working on a book. According to reports, the journalist was found with his hands tied with plastic wire and a red piece of cloth wrapped around his neck. He had been abducted by armed men the previous day along with his translator. In an opinion piece published in British newspaper “The Times” on 31 July, Vincent accused the police in Basra as having fallen under the influence of Shiite religious groups, and he strongly criticised British authorities in charge of police training for tolerating such influence. Vincent’s work also appeared in “The Christian Science Monitor” and the “National Review”.

Khaled al-Attar, a television producer for the state news channel Al-Iraqiya, was killed in Mosul after being kidnapped earlier in the day on 1 July. Al-Attar was in charge of a number of programmes, including one which offered a satirical view at the Iraqi government. The journalist’s bullet-ridden body was found later in the day near a local mosque. Insurgents have increasingly targeted Al-Iraqiya and its journalists because of the station’s ties to the U.S.-supported government.
Ahmed Wael Bakri, a director and news producer for local television station Al-Sharqiyah, was killed by gunfire as his vehicle approached U.S. troops near a military convoy in Baghdad on 28 June. U.S. soldiers reportedly fired at his car 15 times.

Maha Ibrahim, a news producer for the television station Baghdad TV, was allegedly shot and killed by U.S. forces in Baghdad as she drove to work with her husband on 25 June. According to local reports, Ibrahim’s car was hit by fire from U.S. troops who were attempting to disperse people from the road on which they were travelling. Ibrahim died on arrival at a local hospital. Her husband survived the shooting.

Jerges Mahmood Mohamad Suleiman, a news anchor at Nineveh TV, was shot by unidentified assailants in the city of Mosul on 31 May, as he approached the offices of the television station. Colleagues of Suleiman reported that he had not received any prior threats, although they believe he was targeted because he was an employee of the station. Suleiman worked for Nineveh TV for just 20 days before he was killed. Nineveh TV is a local affiliate of Al-Iraqiya TV, which is part of the U.S.- backed Iraqi Media Network.

Najem Abed Khodair, who worked for the independent daily newspapers "Al-Madaa" and "Tariq al-Shaab", and Ahmad Adam, a poet and writer who contributed to "Al-Madaa" and "Sabah" newspapers, were ambushed while travelling in their car in Latifiyah, a town south of Baghdad, on 15 May. The journalists’ bodies were found by the side of the road, with their throats slit. They were thought to be travelling to Karbala at the time of the murder. The driver of the car was also killed in a similar manner.

Saleh Ibrahim, an Iraqi cameraman working for Associated Press (AP) Television News was killed on 23 April while covering fighting in the Iraqi city of Mosul. At the time of his death, Ibrahim was near the city’s al-Yarmouk Circle, the scene of an earlier explosion that he and his brother-in-law, a photographer for AP, had gone to cover. The journalist reportedly died from shrapnel wounds to the head.

Adnan al-Bayati, a freelance producer and translator who worked for the television station TG3, was murdered by three gunmen at his home in al-Adhamiya neighborhood on 23 April. The gunmen reportedly knocked on al-Bayati’s door and opened fire when he answered, killing him in front of his wife and baby. According to his colleagues, Al-Bayati was not politically active and had no known personal disputes with any Iraqi factions.

(Presumed Dead) Ahmed al-Rubai’i, a reporter and editor at the U.S.-backed daily “Al-Sabah”, was abducted by unknown perpetrators in Baghdad mid-April. No body was found but it is suspected that he has been murdered. International news sources reported that on 6 June, police arrested members of a criminal gang who admitted to killing several people. Rubai’i’s press pass was found among the identity cards in their possession. Al-Rubai’i had taken up a second job as a media officer for the National Assembly five months before his death.

Saman Abdullah Izzedine, a popular news anchor for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)-backed Kirkuk TV, was gunned down by unidentified assailants as he was driving on the main highway from the city of Kirkuk to Baghdad on 15 April. Kurdish journalists have reported that Kirkuk TV’s anti-insurgent stance has made it vulnerable to attack from armed groups. It is not known whether Izzebdine had received any threats prior to his murder.

Fadhil Hazem Fadhil and Ali Ibrahim Issa, a producer and cameraman respectively for Al-Hurriya television in Iraq, were killed by suicide bombings while on their way to an assignment in Baghdad on 14 April. The journalists were travelling in a car when the bombs exploded outside the Interior Ministry. At least 18 people were killed in the attacks.

Ahmed Jabbar Hashim, a reporter working for the Baghdad-based daily Al-Sabah, part of the U.S.-backed Iraq Media Network, was kidnapped on 25 March by an unidentified armed group. His decapitated body was discovered on on 1 April. Eight armed men in three cars ambushed the journalist while he was taking his daily route home. They decapitated him and sent a recording of the killing to Al-Sabah as a warning.

Hussam Hilal Sarsam, an Iraqi cameraman working for a Kurdish television station in the northern city of Mosul, was gunned down by unknown assailants on 14 March. According to international reports, the journalist was kidnapped before his murder, but there is conflicting information about when he was abducted. Agence France-Presse reported that a family member of the journalist said he was kidnapped two weeks ago, while Reuters reported that colleagues said he was kidnapped 12 hours before he was killed.

The body of Raeda Wazzan, a news anchor with the Iraqi state TV channel Al-Iraqiya, was found on 25 February on a roadside in Mosul, where she had lived and worked. The journalist, who was kidnapped on 20 February, had multiple gunshot wounds to head. According to reports, Wazzan had received several death threats with demands that she quit her job. Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq allegedly claimed responsibility for the attacks, but these claims have not been verified. Wazzan’s son - kidnapped alongside the journalist - was released a few days after the abduction.

Abdul-Hussein Khazal, an Iraqi correspondent for the U.S.-funded television station Al-Hurra was shot dead by unknown gunmen outside his home in the city of Basra on 9 February. The journalist’s three-year old son was also killed in the attack. Khazal, who joined Al-Hurra in April 2004, also worked as a correspondent for the U.S.-funded radio station Radio Sawa.

Lebanon (2)

Gebran Tueni, publisher of the leading daily "An Nahar", was killed by a car bomb in a suburb of Beirut on 12 December. The blast killed three other people and injured dozens more. Tueni, 48, was also a member of parliament and a vocal critic of Syria and its policies in Lebanon. The publisher was killed the day after he returned home from Paris where he had spent considerable time in recent months because of fears for his safety amid a series of unsolved killings that have targeted Lebanese journalists and politicians. Tueni was a Board Member of the World Association of Newspapers for 10 years. In the mid-1990s, he received the WAN "Award for Publishing Achievement" for his courage and perseverance in bringing out his newspaper throughout the Lebanese civil war.

Samir Kassir, a columnist for the leading Lebanese daily “An-Nahar”, was killed in an explosion as he started the engine of his car outside his home in Beirut on 2 June. A journalist and historian, Kassir had been writing columns for the past 10 years for “An-Nahar”. The journalist was a vigorous critic of Syria, its Lebanese allies and Syria’s 29-year military and political presence in Lebanon, which ended with the withdrawal of troops in April. Opposition politicians have accused Syria and Syrian supporters in Lebanon of involvement in Mr Kassir’s murder, a charge they reject.

Libya (1)

The body of journalist Daif al-Ghazal al-Shuhaibi was found in the eastern city of Benghazi on 2 June. His fingers had been severed and his body had multiple bruises and stab wounds. The journalist had been killed by a single gunshot to the head. Al-Ghazal was reportedly kidnapped on 21 May by two armed men claiming to be state security officers. For the past year, the journalist had written for the UK-based web newspaper Libya Today (www.libya-alyoum.com), in which he had published articles criticising Libya’s governing party the Movement of Revolutionary Committees (MRC). Prior to that, al-Ghazal had worked four years with the MRC-controlled Al-zahf Al-Akhdar (The Green March) newspaper but left in protest at corruption within the MRC. In 2004, the journalist appealed to intellectuals in Libya to join together to fight corruption. As a result he had apparently received threats from the MRC.

Mexico (2)

Raúl Gibb Guerrero, owner and director of "La Opinión", was shot to death on the evening of 8 April near the city of Poza Rica in the eastern state of Veracruz. Gibb Guerrero was driving home when he was ambushed by assailants in two cars. He was struck by eight shots of which three were to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Earlier that evening, Gibb Guerrero was in the city of Martínez de la Torre, where a new edition of La Opinión was being launched. The newspaper is known for covering organised crime and drug dealings. According to local reports, Gibb Guerrero had received anonymous death threats in the days leading up to the attack.

Nepal (1)

Maheshwor Pahari, 30, died of tuberculosis on 4 October, one week after being transferred from the main prison in the city of Pokhara, in western Nepal, to the regional hospital located in the same city. The journalist had been ill for several months and although doctors had been recommending his transfer to Kathmandu for treatment, the prison authorities allegedly refused. Pahari was detained by security forces in the village of Khorako Mukh, in western Nepal’s Kaski district on 2 January 2004, under Nepal’s Prevention of Terrorism Act, which enables the authorities to detain anyone suspected of terrorist links without charge. Pahari reportedly maintained close contacts with sources in the Maoist rebel movement. Local journalists believe that his detention was linked to his journalistic work.

Pakistan (2)

Amir Nowab, a freelance cameraman for Associated Press Television News and a reporter for the Pakistan-based Frontier Post newspaper, and Allah Noor, who was working for Peshawar-based Khyber TV, were fatally shot by gunmen in Pakistan’s tribal area of South Waziristan on 7 February. According to international reports, a car overtook the journalists’ bus at around 7:30 p.m. near the town of Wana, and assailants opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles. The journalists were on their way back from the town of Sararogha, where they were covering the surrender of suspected tribal militant Baitullah Mehsud. Two other journalists were wounded in the attack.

Philippines (7)

Robert Ramos, a reporter for the weekly tabloid Katapat, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on motorcycle on 20 November in the city of Cabuyao, fifty kilometres outside the capital city of Manila. The journalist was reportedly waiting for a ride home when he was assaulted outside a local market. According to reports, On December 1, police identified two brothers as suspects in the murder. Police said the suspects believed the reporter had tipped off authorities that they sold pirated DVDs and CDs from a shop in Cabuyao. Authorities had raided the shop and confiscated merchandise on 17 November.

Rolando "Dodong" Morales, a commentator for dxMD radio station on the southern island of Mindanao, was shot to death on 3 July. Mr Morales was returning home after hosting his weekly programme “Voice of the Village” when eight unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen ambushed him along a highway in General Santos City. Witnesses reported that the assailants surrounded Mr Morales after he fell injured from his motorcycle and fired a number of shots to make sure that he was dead. Mr Morales was rushed to hospital but pronounced dead on arrival. The journalist was known for his hard-hitting commentaries about drugs and local corruption. He had reportedly received a number of death threats dating back to November 2004, due to his reporting on the drug trade.

Philip Agustin, editor and publisher of the weekly “Starline Times Recorder”, was gunned down in the village of Paltic, about 100 kilometres northeast of Manila, on 10 May. According to reports, Agustin was shot while visiting his daughter’s home. A gunman fired at the journalist through an open window and Agustin was killed by a single shot to the back of his head. The assailant fled the scene with an accomplice on motorcycle. Agustin frequently carried stories on corruption in his newspaper. A special edition of “Starline Times Recorder”, dedicated to corruption and illegal logging in the nearby town of Dingalan, was scheduled to appear the morning after his murder. The special is said to have linked a Dingalan local politician to missing government money.

Klein Cantoneros, a presenter on radio DXAA in the southern city of Dipolog, was fatally shot on 4 May. Three assailants reportedly ambushed the journalist as he was on his way home on his motorbike early that morning. Cantoneros sustained six gunshot wounds from the attack. He was found in critical condition shortly after the incident, holding an unregistered calibre 45 gun in his hand with which he had tried to defend himself. The journalist died of his wounds several hours later at a local medical centre.

Marlene Garcia-Esperat, a columnist for the “Midland Review”, was shot dead by unknown assailants in her home in the city of Tacurong on 24 March. Her ten-year old daughter witnessed the attack. At the time of her murder, Garcia-Esperat was under police protection as a result of death threats she had received in previous months. The journalist, a former ombudsman for the Department of Agriculture, had previously spent several years under a witness protection programme, following a grenade attack on her house due to her work exposing corruption in the 1990s. Local journalists and Garcia-Esperat’s family believe that her murder was connected to her outspoken exposés in the “Midland Review”, in which she had unveiled alleged involvement of local police officers in illegal operations, and fraudulous handling of government funds in the Department of Agriculture.

Edgar Amoro, a key witness to the murder of his friend, journalist Edgar Damalerio, was shot dead in Pagadian, in the southern isIand of Mindanao on 2 February. A journalist with local radio DXKP was under a justice ministry witness protection scheme. He is the second witness to be killed by accomplices of the chief suspect, ex-police officer, Guillermo Wapile. Prior to the incident, Amoro had survived many attempts on his life. The journalist was shot dead at point blank range by two men as he left a high school in Pagadian where he taught English Amoro was travelling in a car with Edgar Damalerio when he was murdered on 13 May 2002. He had recently identified Guillermo Wapile as Damalerio’s killer. The ex-police officer gave himself up to police in Pagadian on 12 September 2004. He was brought before the press the next day and the highest authorities welcomed the arrest in this now symbolic case.

Russia (2)

Magomedzagid Varisov, a journalist and political analyst, was gunned down in the city Makhachkala, capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, on the evening of 28 June. According to reports, assailants opened fire on Varisov’s vehicle as he was returning home with his wife and driver. Varisov sustained multiple bullet wounds and died at the scene. His wife was not injured. For the past three years, Varisov wrote analytical articles for the Makhachkala-based “Novoye Delo” (New Business), Dagestan’s largest weekly. His political analyses were often critical of the Dagestan opposition. Varisov also headed the Republican Centre for Strategic Initiatives and Political Technologies, a centre for political analysis in Makhachkala.

The body of cameraman Pavel Makeev was found on the side of a road in between the towns of Azov and Bataysk in southern Russia on 21 May. Authorities classified the death as a traffic accident but colleagues reportedly believe Makeev, who worked for Puls television, was killed to prevent him reporting on local drag racing. The journalist’s body was found with multiple bruises and fractures near the site of the illegal drag races, where he had gone to film for a report for the television station. Police reportedly discovered a pool of blood on the road 15 meters from Makeev’s body, and no tire marks were found on the pavement. The journalist’s video camera and cell phone were missing. Police said they discovered the car that allegedly hit Makeev, but no arrests have been reported.

Serbia and Montenegro (1)

Bardhyl Ajeti, a reporter for the Albanian-language daily “Bota Sot” (World Today), died in an Italian hospital on 25 June, three weeks after being shot in Kosovo. According to reports, Ajeti was driving from the capital city of Pristina to the eastern town of Gnjilane on 3 June when he was shot at by an individual in a passing car. After being taken to a local hospital, the journalist was transported to a hospital in Milan. Ajeti wrote daily editorials for “Bota Sot”, a newspaper known to be allied with the governing Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) party, in which he often criticized opposition party figures. A few weeks prior to the shooting, Ajeti had filed a complaint to the Temporary Media Commissioner, Kosovo’s internationally supervised media regulator, saying that his life had been threatened.

Sierra Leone (1)

Harry Yansaneh, the interim editor of For Di People, died from kidney failure on 28 July, two months after he was violently assaulted by a gang of thugs allegedly acting on the orders of Fatmata Hassan Komeh, a member of parliament for the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party. The extent of Yansaneh’s injuries was not clear at the time of the assault and he was not hospitalized. Prior to the attack Hassan had sought to evict For Di People and five other independent newspapers from the offices they had rented from her late husband for many years. On 26 August, a judicial inquest found the attack on Yansaneh had directly contributed to his death from kidney failure. The same day, Hassan, three of her children and two of the assailants were arrested for suspected manslaughter and released on bail.

Somalia (2)

Duniya Muhyadin Nur, a journalist for the private radio station Capital Voice, was shot and killed on 5 June while on assignment in the Afgoi district, approximately 30 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu. The journalist was travelling in a taxi with a colleague when a gunman in a passing vehicle fired at her. Muhyadin had been covering a protest action organised by bus drivers against the increased number of road blocks set up by militiamen in the district. She died while on the way to the hospital.

Kate Peyton, a reporter for the BBC, was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting on 9 February in the capital of Mogadishu. According to eye witness reports, the journalist was entering a hotel when unidentified assailants in a white vehicle fired upon her before speeding off. The car was later found abandoned in a central Mogadishu neighbourhood. Peyton was rushed to hospital where she underwent surgery. She died later of internal bleeding. The journalist had reportedly arrived only hours earlier to begin a series of reports on the country. Peyton had spent the last 10 years in Africa and was based in Johannesburg. She had worked for the BBC since 1993 and had also worked as a producer and trainer for the South African Broadcasting Corporation in Johannesburg.

Sri Lanka (2)

Relangi Selvarajah, a Tamil broadcaster, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Colombo on 12 August. Her husband, a political activist, was also killed in the attack. The couple were working in the offices of the travel agency they ran together when they were ambushed by unidentified gunmen. Selvarajah was a radio and television host with 20 years of experience. The journalist presented news programmes for the state-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) and more recently for the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. According to local reports, Selvarajah also produced the SLBC programme "Ithaya Veenai", which was known for criticizing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The body of Darmaratnam Sivaram was found in a field near the capital city of Colombo on 29 April. He had been shot several times. According to reports, Sivaram was abducted by assailants while coming out of a restaurant with a friend the day before. The abductors forced him into a jeep and sped off. Sivaram was a columnist for the English language "Daily Mirror" and a founder of the news website TamilNet. The journalist allegedly had links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group. Police searched his house twice last year looking for weapons, but did not find anything to incriminate him.

Thailand (2)

The body of Santi Lamaneenil, owner “Pattaya Post” in the beach resort of Pattayaon, was found in his car with multiple gunshot wounds to the head on 2 November. Lamaneenil, who was also a freelance contributor to Channel 7 television and the national dailies “Khao Sod” and “Khom Chad Luek”, had reportedly been kidnapped the day previously. The journalist’s wife reportedly told local news sources that a man had come twice to their home asking to see Lamaneenil prior to his abduction. Lammaneenil had been staying with relatives intermittently in past months out of fear of abduction or attack. Police are investigating a number of motives for his murder, including the journalist’s professional activities.

Pongkiat Saetang, managing editor of the bi-monthly newspaper "Had Yai Post", was shot dead near a central market in the town of Had Yai, southern Thailand on 14 February. According to reports, Pongkiat was approaching a small street near the market on his motorbike when he was shot several times from behind by one of two men also on a motorbike. Pongkiat’s wife allegedly told investigating authorities she believed the killing was linked to his various exposés on the misconduct of local politicians. The journalist had also received telephone threats.