Ecuadorian journalist murdered in Manabí despite being under Prosecutor's protection
The SIP condemned the murder of Tomás Beltrán, director of the media outlet Calcetines, shot in Calceta. It demands an investigation into possible failures in his official protection.
SIP demands investigation following murder of protected journalist in Ecuador
Holanews.com reports that the Inter-American Press Association (SIP) condemned on Monday the murder of Ecuadorian journalist Tomás Beltrán, director of the community digital media outlet Calcetines, who was shot on Sunday evening near his residence in Calceta, a coastal province of Manabí. His attackers fled following the assault.
Beltrán had reported death threats and had been under the Prosecutor's Victims and Witnesses Protection System since May 2025.
"It is inadmissible that a journalist who had reported threats and had protective measures in place should have been murdered. The authorities must act with urgency, investigate thoroughly and determine whether there was any relationship between the previous intimidation and this crime," stated Carlos Jornet, president of the SIP, in a statement.
The organisation, based in Miami, noted that the authorities have yet to determine the motive for the crime or identify those responsible. The SIP stressed that all hypotheses must be investigated, including a possible link to Beltrán's journalistic work.
According to the Articulation Table for the Protection of Journalists (MAPP), a coalition of Ecuadorian organisations and media outlets, the journalist received threatening pamphlets at his home in April. Two collaborators at Calcetines had previously been murdered. The MAPP itself had described the Prosecutor's protective measures as "insufficient" in that same month.
"His murder again demonstrates the need for protection mechanisms to be effective and for risk warnings to receive a timely response," declared Martha Ramos, president of the SIP's Commission on Freedom of the Press and Information.
The SIP further demanded clarification of the threats received by Beltrán, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the protection scheme assigned to him and a determination of whether there were institutional failures that contributed to leaving him unprotected.
Source: Google News EC — Crime