14 August 2008

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER KILLED AT HOME


A reporter for a Thai-language daily and TV station was shot dead while cooking inside his own house on 1 August 2008 in Nakorn Sri Thammarat province. Athiwat Chaiyanurat was a reporter for "Matichon" newspaper and stringer for the army-owned Channel 7.

"That the killing took place inside the reporter's house indicates that it is not only premeditated but also masterminded by influential figures," said the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), a partner of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA).

Athiwat had reported about alleged local corruption and about a police manhunt for a hired killer who reportedly was being protected by a senior civil servant. The reporter had received death threats before and exercised caution when travelling, TJA said.

Nakorn Sri Thammarat is known for drug trafficking and a high murder and crime rate, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Visit these links:
- TJA alert: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/95913/
- IFJ alert: http://tinyurl.com/6cqcyd
- CPJ alert: http://www.cpj.org/news/2008/asia/thai06aug08na.html
(13 August 2008)



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Thailand

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