Details of media blackout

 A few minutes after the coup d'état got under way on 28 June, there was a power outage that lasted five hours and silenced all of the country's radio and TV stations. Since then, most TV stations have just been broadcasting cartoons and soap operas. The public TV station Canal 8, whose broadcasts had stopped on 28 June, has now resumed normal programming.

 Soldiers went to the headquarters of the daily El Tiempo and the TV station Canal 11 in San Pedro Sula on 28 June and insisted that the journalists stop relaying information coming from members of ousted President José Manuel Zelaya's government,

 Several journalists with the international TV station Telesur and the daily La Prensa have talked of censorship by military officers who asked them to "moderate" their coverage. Soldiers also threatened to arrest them if they continued to broadcast footage or print photos of the demonstrations in support of Zelaya.

 Around 10 soldiers stormed into the Marriot Hotel in Tegucigalpa on 29 June as foreign journalists were transmitting footage of a demonstration from their room. The soldiers arrested Argentine journalist Nicolas Garcia, Peruvian journalist Esteban Felix and two Nicaraguans who work for the Associated Press as assistants. They were taken to the Immigration Bureau where their visas were checked and where they were released an hour and a half later after explaining they were journalists. Adriana Sivori, Maria Jose Diaz and Larry Sanchez of Telesur were also detained and then freed.

 Two TV stations, Canal 66 Maya TV and Canal 36, were ordered to stop broadcasting on 28 June without being told when they could resume.

 According to Radio Progreso journalist Félix Molina, the military are threatening to shut down news media if they refer to President Zelaya's removal as a "coup d'état."

29.06.2009 - News blackout after army ousts president

Reporters Without Borders is very worried about the impact of yesterday's military coup d'état on press freedom. President Manuel Zelaya's ouster was followed by a curfew during which the broadcasts of several radio and TV stations were suspended.

"We condemn a coup against a democratically-elected president on principle, especially as it raises concern about respect for basic freedoms including press freedom," Reporters Without Borders said. "The suspension or closure of local and international broadcast media indicates that the coup leaders want to hide what is happening. The Organisation of American States and the international community must insist that this news blackout is lifted."

As soon as the curfew had been decreed, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) notified cable TV operators of a ban on broadcasting certain international TV stations such as Telesur, Cubavisión Internacional and CNN Español. The broadcasts of Radio Globo and several other stations were also either interrupted or shut down.

In the provinces, around 25 soldiers stormed into the studios of Radio Progreso, a station affiliated to the Latin American Association of Radio Education, four hours after the coup and forced the staff to stop all work. In a statement, station manager Ismael Moreno said the intervention of local residents prevented more serious violence. Still in the military's sights, Radio Progreso has not yet resumed broadcasting.

The military coup and Roberto Micheletti's subsequent installation by congress as the new president prompted demonstrations in support of the ousted president. Members of the Association of Taxis of Honduras who were staging a demonstration in Tegucigalpa attacked a photographer with the daily El Heraldo, throwing stones at him and then beating and kicking him as he lay on the ground.

Reporters Without Borders added: "Honduran journalists already suffer from the high level of violent crime in normal times. We also appeal to the media to act responsibly at this difficult moment. They should refrain from fuelling a polarisation in public opinion that could expose journalists to more reprisals."

(Photo : AFP)