"UNESCO Chief Condemns Killing of Chinese Reporter Beaten by Officer"

Read the full article in NewsBlaze.Com (an independent, online, news aggregator headquartered in Folsom California).

Lead: "Continuing his campaign to spotlight the deplorable killing of journalists worldwide, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (<"http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29008&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">UNESCO) today condemned the beating death of a Chinese reporter by a police officer.

"'I condemn the killing of Xiao Guopeng,' declared Ko�chiro Matsuura in a statement released in Paris on the incident, which took place in the province of Guizhou on 18 July."

Reporters Without Borders indicated that an officer beat the 39-year old reporter outside the building of his newspaper, Anshun, and continued hitting Mr. Xiao when he was already on the ground, despite protests from a crowd of onlookers.

Welcoming the fact that the alleged perpetrator has been arrested, the Director General said: "I trust that there will be a transparent investigation and trial to help prevent the recurrence of such events in the future."

Unfortunately, attacks on reporters and on the free press are frequent in many parts of the world, and Director General Matsuura frequently issues statements and declarations condemning those responsible for specific incidents of suppression of freedom of the press.