Report indicates that 2025 was the deadliest year for journalism in Peru, with 458 attacks

Lima.– The year 2025 was cataloged as the deadliest for the practice of journalism in Peru, after registering 458 attacks against journalists and media outlets, including four murders, according to the annual report presented this Friday by the National Association of Journalists of Peru (ANP). The most recent case corresponds to journalist Mitzar Castillejos, who died on December 26 in Lima, after having been shot two weeks earlier by unknown individuals. The communicator was attacked when he was going to host a radio program in the city of Aguaytía, in the Amazonian region of Ucayali. Castillejos became the fourth journalist murdered in 2025 in Peru. Before him, Gastón Medina also lost his life in the southern city of Ica; Raúl Celis, in Iquitos; and Fernando Núñez, in Pacasmayo, in the north of the country. The president of the ANP, Zuliana Lainez, warned that the high number of attacks responds to a systematic attempt to silence the press.

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“Four journalists murdered. 458 attacks on the press. They try everything and by all means. The goal is one: to silence us”, Lainez expressed in the document.

Peru, among the most dangerous countries for the press The union leader stated that these crimes place Peru only behind Mexico in terms of lethal violence against journalists in the region. For his part, the ANP's legal advisor, Miguel Jugo, pointed out that during 2025, aggressions against journalists who carry out oversight and reporting work deepened, and warned that the main sources of aggression come from the Executive and Congress. The report, prepared by the ANP's Journalist Human Rights Office, details that during the year, the following were recorded:

• 127 threats or harassments
• 114 physical and verbal aggressions
• 79 stigmatizing speeches
• 50 obstacles to journalistic coverage
• 46 cases of judicial intimidation

Additionally, 13 legislative threats, 12 restrictions on access to information, four murders, three arbitrary detentions, and two cyberattacks, among other events, were documented. The attacks were reported in 65 provinces, mostly concentrated in Lima, with 256 cases. High numbers were also recorded in Huamanga, Huaraz and Puno, as well as in Maynas. As for the aggressors, 217 were public officials, 121 security agents, 71 civilians, 45 unidentified persons, and four employers. The most affected media were the digital press, followed by television, the written press, and radio. The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) had already warned last October that 2025 was among the worst years for press freedom in Peru, denouncing judicial persecution, disinformation campaigns, stigmatization, and legislative proposals that threaten journalistic practice.