Conviction welcomed in 2005 murder case

We issued the following statement today after a Philippine court sentenced Muhammad Maulana to life in prison for the murder of journalist Edgar Amoro. Amoro witnessed the killing of his fellow Pagadian City-based broadcaster, Edgar Damalerio, in May 2002. In December 2005, a police officer, Guillermo Wapile, was sentenced to life in prison for gunning down Damalerio...

“We welcome this conviction in the murder of Edgar Amoro,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Even though another suspect in the killing, Norham Ambol, is still at large, the convictions in the cases of the killers of Amoro and Damalerio show that the Philippines can act with the necessary prosecutorial energy to reverse the impunity with which journalists are killed in the country.”

January 29, 2010 2:49 PM ET | Permalink