Last Updated: Friday, 26 May 2023, 13:32 GMT

Journalists Killed in 2017 - Motive Unconfirmed: Carlos William Flores

Publisher Committee to Protect Journalists
Publication Date 31 December 2017
Cite as Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Killed in 2017 - Motive Unconfirmed: Carlos William Flores, 31 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a4e337c3.html [accessed 30 May 2023]
DisclaimerThis 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.

Canal 22 | Killed in Tegucigalpita, Honduras | September 13, 2017

Carlos William Flores was shot dead on September 13 as he and a colleague were returning home from a reporting trip in northern Honduras.

According to news reports, unidentified individuals on a motorcycle shot at the pair while they were in the town of Tegucigalpita in the northern state of Cortes.

Flores was taken to a nearby medical center where he was pronounced dead. The woman, who was identified only by an alias in news reports, was injured.

Flores and his colleague had been reporting on a story related to agriculture in Corinto, a town near the border with Guatemala, for the local Canal 22 television station.

Flores worked for Canal 22 in Cuyamel in the northern state of Cortes near the Guatemalan border, and directed a news program, "Sin pelos en la lengua" (Without Mincing Words), which reported on regional news, according to reports.

The Honduran Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre) reported that Flores had been critical of agricultural and mining companies operating around Cuyamel.

Deputy commissioner Luis Osavas, a police spokesperson, identified the journalist in a statement as Carlos William Juárez, but local media outlets as well as international entities, including UNESCO and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, have reported his last name as Flores.

According to the Honduran newspaper La Prensa, Flores also owned a pool hall where a police officer was killed two months ago. Osavas told AFP on September 13 that authorities are investigating if there is any connection between Flores' murder and the police killing at his business.

Honduran police did not immediately announce any official line of investigation or publicly discount his work as a possible motive.

CPJ did not find reports that Flores had received threats for his reporting.

Motive Unconfirmed: CPJ is investigating to determine whether the death was work-related.

Copyright notice: © Committee to Protect Journalists. All rights reserved. Articles may be reproduced only with permission from CPJ.

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