Second Brazilian journalist killed in less than a week

Brazil: A Brazilian reporter has been shot dead by unknown assailants, the second journalist in less than two weeks to be gunned down in the South American country.

Paulo Rodrigues, editor of the Mercosul News website, died in Ponta Para, in the southern Mato Grosso do Sul state, at around 11:30 pm (0230 GMT Monday) after being shot several times by two men on a motorcycle, the website said.

"Initial reports indicate that the crime against the journalist could be politically motivated, but police do not rule out other theories," it said. Rodrigues, 51, was also the editor of the Jo

rnal da Praca newspaper.

The state's journalist syndicate called on authorities to "quickly move to insure that the crime is solved and the guilty parties are punished." Last week Mario Lopes, 50, the editor of the website Vassouras na net, which criticized local politicians, judges and police, was shot dead with his girlfriend in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

"We are saddened by the killing of Paulo Roberto Cardoso Rodrigues," Carlos Lauria, senior Americas program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

"The murders of two journalists in such a short time cast a chill on the Brazilian press and make it imperative that authorities fully investigate the crimes, determine the motives, and prosecute those responsible."

AFP