About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

Alert

Journalist threatened after reporting on cocaine missing from police vault

(ACM/IFEX) - The Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM) expresses its deep concern at the news that Mr Ivan Cairo, a journalist with "De Ware Tijd" newspaper in Suriname, has been the subject of a threatening phone call following publication of several articles in his newspaper on the disappearance of more than 90 kilogrammes of cocaine from the vault of the police department's elite A-Team Unit.

Both the Minister of Justice and Police, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, and the Attorney-General, Subhaas Punwasi, have been informed about the incident.

The Association of Surinamese Journalists (ASJ) has condemned the threat and says it is treating it seriously. The ASJ has also called for police guarantees for the safety of the journalist and for an investigation into the incident.

The ACM endorses these calls by the ASJ and expresses support for Mr Cairo and other colleagues who have covered the story.

Mr Cairo has had a long association with the ACM and is one of its founding members in his role as former president of the ASJ.