Brazil urged to probe murders of journalists

Paris, Nov 3 (IANS/EFE) Reporters Without Borders asked Tuesday for an investigation into the murders of three journalists that took place in the last two weeks.

The owner and editor of the newspaper Entre-Rios Jornal, Jose Rubem Pontes de Souza, was slain last Saturday night with a shot in the back of his neck, Paris-based RSF said in a communique.

His name joins those of Wanderley dos Reis, owner of Popular News, killed Oct 16 at his home in Sao Paulo state, and of Francisco Gomes de Medeiros, announcer on Radio Caico, who was gunned down two days earlier in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte.

“This sudden spate of murders of journalists comes just as Brazil improved its ranking (58th out of 178 countries) in the world press freedom index that Reporters Without Borders released on October 20,” RSF noted.

RSF asked that an investigation clear up as soon as possible the circumstances surrounding these deaths.

–IANS/EFE