Radio station owner murdered near Tripoli

Reporters Without Borders condemns the murder of Radwan Gharyani, 44, the owner and manager of radio Tripoli FM , whose body was found yesterday in the east Tripoli suburb of Ghut Roman. He had been shot four times. There is so far no indication as to the identity and motives of those behind Gharyani’s death. “We have no idea who might have committed this crime,” said Rabee Dahan, the station’s co-founder and development director. “Radwan had not received any recent threats and we were not really worried by the threats he had received in the past.” Reporters Without Borders calls on the Libyan authorities to investigate this murder without delay in order to establish the motives and identity of those responsible, who must be brought to justice. Given the current climate of violence against news providers, it is important that the investigators do not rule out the possibility that the murder was linked to the victim’s journalistic work. More than two years after the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi’s authoritarian regime, the situation in Libya is still highly charged and unstable, and journalists continue to be exposed to a constant threat of violence in the course of their work. Reporters Without Borders reminds the Libyan government of its national and international obligations as regards respect for fundamental freedoms. A week after the United Nations General Assembly passed its first-ever resolution on the safety of journalists, RWB urges the Libyan authorities to take all necessary measures to guarantee the protection of journalists working in Libya and to end the prevailing impunity.