A Honduran journalist was shot dead on Sunday by two strangers riding a motorcycle, the 85th since 2001 in this Central American country, one of the most dangerous in the world outside armed conflict zones, police said Monday (September 28th).
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Luis Almendares, 35, an internet journalist and government critic, had lodged a dozen death threats complaints with the police and with an official institution for the protection of journalists, according to human rights organizations. 'Man.
The journalist was going shopping on Sunday in Comayagua, 60 km north of Tegucigalpa, "
when he was intercepted by two individuals on a motorcycle, who shot him several times,
" police said in a statement.
Hit by three bullets, Luis Almendares was hospitalized in serious condition and died Monday morning, Amada Ponce, director of the NGO Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre), told AFP.
A total of 85 journalists, media employees or owners, have been murdered since 2001 in Honduras, and 90% of these crimes have gone unpunished, Ms. Ponce said.