Journalists Killed in 2004 - Motive Confirmed: María José Bravo
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | January 2005 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Killed in 2004 - Motive Confirmed: María José Bravo, January 2005, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4e6495b919.html [accessed 2 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
La Prensa
November 9, 2004, in Juigalpa, Nicaragua
Reporter Bravo, who was covering a dispute over recent elections, was killed outside an electoral office in the city of Juigalpa, capital of central Chontales Department.
The 26-year-old Bravo, a correspondent for the Managua daily La Prensa in Chontales, had just exited the Juigalpa vote-counting center and was talking to several people when she was shot once at close range at around 6:30 p.m., La Prensa reported. She was taken to a hospital in Juigalpa but was declared dead on arrival.
Bravo was covering protests by supporters of the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), which has a majority in the National Assembly, and supporters of the Alliance for the Republic (APRE) coalition, which backs President Enrique Bolaños Geyer. Both sides were challenging the results of the November 7 elections in two municipalities.
On the evening of her murder, police detained Eugenio Hernández González, a former PLC mayor of the town of El Ayote, and identified him as the main suspect in Bravo's death, according to La Prensa newspaper. Police took a .38-caliber handgun from Hernández.
Some witnesses interviewed by La Prensa claimed to have seen Hernández reach for a handgun just before Bravo was shot.
After the results of the November 7 elections were announced confirming a major victory for the opposition Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and a significant defeat for the PLC, several incidents of political violence occurred throughout Nicaragua.
| Medium: | |
| Job: | Print Reporter |
| Beats Covered: | Politics |
| Gender: | Female |
| Local or Foreign: | Local |
| Freelance: | No |
| Type of Death: | Murder |
| Suspected Source of Fire: | Government Officials |
| Impunity: | No |
| Taken Captive: | No |
| Tortured: | No |
| Threatened: | No |
