“I condemn the murder of Gerardo Ceferino Servian Coronel” the Director-General said. “He becomes the latest victim on a long list of media professionals killed in this region. Journalists must be able to carry out their duties without fearing for their lives. Freedom of expression - one of the pillars of democratic society - depends on it. I urge the authorities to thoroughly investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), Gerardo Ceferino Servian Coronel reported for several different radio stations in Pedro Juan Caballero, the main city on the Paraguayan coast near the Brazilian border. Since the beginning of the year, he had presented a programme on a community radio station, Ciudad Nueva FM, in nearby Zanja Pyta. He was gunned down on 4 March by two unidentified men on a motorbike.

The Director-General of UNESCO issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States at the Organization’s General Conference of 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.” These statements are posted on a dedicated webpage, UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists.

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Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray@unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12

UNESCO is the United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”