THE PHILIPPINES. PHILIPPINE COURT SENTENCES JOURNALISTâS KILLER TO DEATH
January 20, 2006: the Cebu City Regional Trial Court, the Philippines, sentenced Edgar Belandres to death for fatally shooting a photojournalist in 2004.
Allan Dizon, 30, a photographer for The Freeman newspaper, died hours after he was shot at close range outside a shopping mall in central Cebu city.
He was among more than 70 Philippine journalists killed since 1986. Ten reporters were gunned down in 2005 alone, making the country one of the most dangerous places for journalists in the world, according to media watchdogs.
Police suspected Belandres, who was allegedly peddling illegal drugs, decided to kill Dizon because he believed the journalist had tipped off authorities about his activities. (Sources: AP, 20/01/2006)
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