ID :
91792
Thu, 11/26/2009 - 17:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/91792
The shortlink copeid
AJI TO RALLY OVER SLAUGHTER OF PHILIPPINE JOURNALISTS
Jakarta, Nov. 26 (ANTARA) - The Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI) is to stage a rally here on Thursday, to express their sentiments about the slaughter of Philippine journalists in Mindanao on November 24, 2009.
Chairman of AJI Indonesia Nezar Patria said the rally would urge the Philippine and other governments to protect journalists.
The rally would be held in front of the Philippine embassy in Jakarta and protesters would wear black clothes to show their grief, he said.
AJI Indonesia also urged the Philippine government to investigate the massacre and bring to justice those responsible, Nezar Patria said.
He hoped that the violence against Philippine journalists would stop at once.
The massacre occurred after about 100 Ampatuan gunmen allegedly abducted a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, plus a group of journalists.
The death toll rose from 46 to 57 after 11 more bodies were pulled out of shallow graves on Wednesday, according to police.
The victims included at least 13 local journalists who had intended to cover Mangudadatu was to be nomiated for a governorship, making Monday's killings the deadliest single attack on the media in history.
Police earlier said the top suspect in the massacre was Andal Ampatuan Jr, a member of Arroyo's ruling coalition and the son of a powerful regional politician who had helped secure votes for the president in previous elections.
Ampatuan Jr is a town mayor in Maguindanao province, a lawless part of the southern Philippines where powerful Muslim clans rule vast areas backed by their own private armies and often out of the national government's control.
The victims were abducted as they were travelling in a six-vehicle convoy to nominate Mangudadatu as the opposition candidate for provincial governor in elections next year. He was not in the convoy.
Ampatuan Sr had been grooming his son to take over as governor of Maguindanao, and the victims' relatives have alleged the Ampatuans organised the murders so that Mangudadatu would not run for the post. ***
Chairman of AJI Indonesia Nezar Patria said the rally would urge the Philippine and other governments to protect journalists.
The rally would be held in front of the Philippine embassy in Jakarta and protesters would wear black clothes to show their grief, he said.
AJI Indonesia also urged the Philippine government to investigate the massacre and bring to justice those responsible, Nezar Patria said.
He hoped that the violence against Philippine journalists would stop at once.
The massacre occurred after about 100 Ampatuan gunmen allegedly abducted a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, plus a group of journalists.
The death toll rose from 46 to 57 after 11 more bodies were pulled out of shallow graves on Wednesday, according to police.
The victims included at least 13 local journalists who had intended to cover Mangudadatu was to be nomiated for a governorship, making Monday's killings the deadliest single attack on the media in history.
Police earlier said the top suspect in the massacre was Andal Ampatuan Jr, a member of Arroyo's ruling coalition and the son of a powerful regional politician who had helped secure votes for the president in previous elections.
Ampatuan Jr is a town mayor in Maguindanao province, a lawless part of the southern Philippines where powerful Muslim clans rule vast areas backed by their own private armies and often out of the national government's control.
The victims were abducted as they were travelling in a six-vehicle convoy to nominate Mangudadatu as the opposition candidate for provincial governor in elections next year. He was not in the convoy.
Ampatuan Sr had been grooming his son to take over as governor of Maguindanao, and the victims' relatives have alleged the Ampatuans organised the murders so that Mangudadatu would not run for the post. ***
