Miami, Apr 19 (EFE).- The Inter-American Press Association (SIP) on Wednesday condemned the murder of Haitian journalist Dumesky Kersaint and called on the authorities to investigate the “wave of violence” against communicators in the Caribbean country.
The IAPA, based in Miami (USA), states in a statement that Dumesky Kersaint, a 30-year-old journalist for Radio Télé Inur, was murdered on April 16 by armed individuals who shot him.
The journalist, who used to cover social protests, was fatally shot in the municipality of Carrefour, south of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
Authorities have not yet revealed whether Kersaint was a collateral victim of the violence or the main target of the criminals.
SIP President and Global Director of Print Licensing and Innovation for The New York Times, Michael Greenspon, lamented “the wave of violence that is sweeping against our colleagues in Haiti.”
Greenson also asked the press organizations of the American continent to denounce and condemn “the crimes, impunity and violence that hits the country.”
The president of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Argentine Carlos Jornet, showed solidarity with Kersaint’s family and colleagues.
Jornet, journalistic director of the Argentine newspaper La Voz del Interior, said that since last year the IAPA has witnessed “the great insecurity that surrounds the profession in Haiti”, a fact that causes journalists to become “victims of armed gangs that operate in various areas of the country”.
The IAPA recalls that this is the first crime against a communicator this year, after nine journalists from the Caribbean country were murdered in 2022.
The list of those killed last year is made up of Francklin Tamar, from Radio Solidarité; Fritz Dorilas, from Megastar radio; Romelo Vilsaint and Wilguens Louissaint, digital media collaborators; Tess Garry of Lebon FM radio; Frantzsen Charles of FS News; Tayson Lartigue, by Tijèn Jounalis; Maxihen Lazarre, from Rois des Infos, and Amady John Wesley, from radio Écoute FM.
In addition, in this 2023 three media professionals were kidnapped and released after paying a ransom.
