Miami, April 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 .
IAPA, based in Miami (USA), said in a statement that Dumesky Kersaint, a 30-year-old journalist from Radio Télé Inur, was murdered on April 16 by gunmen who shot at him.
The journalist, who used to cover social protests, was fatally shot in the community of Carrefour, south of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
Authorities have not yet announced whether Kersaint was a collateral victim of the violence or the criminals’ main target.
SIP President and New York Times Global Director of Print Licensing and Innovation, Michael Greenspon, lamented “the tide of violence sweeping against our colleagues in Haiti.”
Greenson also called on the American continent’s press organizations to denounce and condemn “the crimes, impunity and violence that are befalling the country.”
The President of the IAPA Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Argentine Carlos Jornet, expressed solidarity with Kersaint’s family and colleagues.
Jornet, chief journalist at Argentine newspaper La Voz del Interior, said that since last year IAPA has been witnessing “the great insecurity surrounding the profession in Haiti,” a fact that has resulted in journalists “being victims of armed gangs, the areas of the country operating in different countries”.
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 in the last year consists of Radio Solidarité’s Francklin Tamar; Megastar Radio’s Fritz Dorilas; Romelo Vilsaint and Wilguens Louissaint, digital media contributors; Tess Garry from FM Radio Lebon; 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 2023, three media workers were kidnapped and released after a ransom was paid.