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Alert

IAPA pleased about sentencing of Jose Luis Cabezas' murderers

(IAPA/IFEX) - IAPA considers the guilty verdict against the assassins of Argentine photojournalist Jose Luis Cabezas to be a well-aimed blow to impunity and the enemies of freedom of expression and the press.

An Argentine court sentenced the eight accused to life imprisonment for the Cabezas murder. The court's sentencing also established that the prominent businessman, Alfredo Yabran, who committed suicide in 1998, was the instigator of the crime because he felt that his interests were affected when Cabezas took his photograph and published it in the weekly "Noticias", for which Cabezas worked.

"We are expressing our approval of Argentina's judiciary authorities recent decisions in the resolution of this crime which shook the entire world", stated Tony Pederson, president of IAPA.

Pederson added in the Houston, Texas, United States "Houston Chronicle", that "it weighs on us to know the verdict will not bring Cabezas back to life, however it has established an important precedent in the Americas and sends the message that impunity can be overcome."

Cabezas, who was assassinated on 25 January 1997, "rigorously complied with the requirements of his profession when he fell victim to intolerance," asserted the head of the international organisation.

"The solution to this crime pleases us, but we must aspire to guarantees and respect for journalists' safety, an end to terrorising the press, the disappearance of assassins, the burial of impunity and the prevailing of press freedom", concluded Pederson.