Journalist kidnapped in Honduras

Tegucigalpa, May 10 (IANS/EFE) A journalist with HRN, one of Honduras' leading radio networks, was kidnapped here Wednesday while driving to work.

Alfredo Villatoro was abducted around 4.45 a.m., HRN said on its morning newscast.

Police are already working on the case, spokesman Hector Ivan Mejia said, adding that authorities are treating the crime as a kidnapping.

"We hope that that is not an intimidating message, or a confrontation with authorities, or that his captors have the intention of doing physical harm to Alfredo Villatoro," the police spokesman said.

The abductors have not contacted Villatoro's family or his employers, HRN said.

Villatoro's vehicle was found abandoned in Tres Caminos, a residential neighbourhood in Tegucigalpa.

Another HRN journalist, Andres Torres, was kidnapped in May 2009 and released unharmed after 18 days. No one was ever arrested in the case.

Journalism has become a dangerous occupation in Honduras, where a score of media professionals have been slain in recent years.

The latest victim was Erick Alejandro Martinez, a reporter who was also spokesperson for a gay and lesbian rights organization.

The 32-year-old journalist was found dead Monday in Tegucigalpa.

--IANS/EFE

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