Journalists Killed in 1997 - Motive Unconfirmed: Tito Pilco Mori
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | January 1998 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Journalists Killed in 1997 - Motive Unconfirmed: Tito Pilco Mori, January 1998, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4e6495172d.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| 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. |
Radio Frecuencia Popular
September 3, 1997, in Rioja, Peru
Pilco, owner and director of Radio Frecuencia Popular in Rioja and host of the program "El Pueblo Quiere Saber" (The People Want to Know), which frequently criticized public prosecutors, judges, and police officials, was assaulted August 27 on the outskirts of Rioja as he was returning home from a visit with a cousin. He was found, severely injured and unable to speak, at 5 a.m. on August 28, some distance from his motorcycle.
He died on September 3 in a Lima hospital. Two witnesses reported seeing assailants in a white car without license plates intercept Pilco on his motorcycle and beat him. But the official report said his death resulted from head wounds received when he crashed his motorcycle because he was drunk. The investigation was initially headed by José Monteverde, a provincial prosecutor whose integrity Pilco had questioned on his show, according to the local press. After a Lima newspaper published an account of Pilco's death, the case was reopened.
