Your Excellency,

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), an independent non-governmental institution committed to promoting and defending freedom of expression is concerned over the death threats to journalist Edgardo Antonio Escoto Amador, also known as “Washo” by some armed men in the city of Comayaguela on 22 September, 2011.

He is a presenter on the shows “Temas y Debates” and “Entrevista con el Washo”, which air on Channel 13 in the capital city of Tegucigalpa. According to the information received by Committee for Free Expression, C-Libre, Escoto Amador told C-Libre that at 5:30 a.m., he was on his way to meet a Channel 13 car to go to the airport when he was stopped by two armed men on a motorcycle. They pointed guns at him and snatched his briefcase, which contained a laptop with confidential information about the coup d’etat that was shared with him and other journalists several months ago and provoked the ire of retired general Miguel Ángel García Padgett.

Escoto Amador said that he has recently been followed by men on motorcycles, and has received threatening phone calls and messages. The journalist noted three months ago, the retired general made it clear that he was not pleased about information that was published on the issue and warned the journalist not to continue reporting on it.

PPF condemns the death threats to journalist and calls upon the government to conduct thorough investigation of the threatening calls and bring the culprits to justice and to ensure the safety of journalists in Honduras. I thank you for your attention and will welcome your comments.

Yours sincerely,

Owais Aslam Ali
Secretary General
Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) Press Centre
Shahrah Kamal Ataturk
Karachi Pakistan
www.pakistanpressfoundation.org