Mexican journalists held a vigil and protest Saturday after considered one of their colleagues, Roberto Figueroa, was killed within the southern state of Morelos, in response to stories from native media. Figueroa, host and producer of the present “Acá en el Present” is the first journalist murdered within the nation in 2024.
Journalists gathered on the Memorial for the Victims of Morelos, demanding justice for the homicide of Figueroa, whose physique was found on a rural highway close to the Coajomulco forest in Morelos. In response to reports from the Quadratín information company, Figueroa was kidnapped on April 26, 2024, shortly after dropping off his daughters at a highschool in Cuernavaca. When he did not return residence, his spouse acquired a harrowing name from the alleged kidnappers, demanding ransom for his launch. Fearing for her husband’s life, she complied with their calls for, paying the requested sum. The captors then instructed her that Figueroa can be discovered within the space of Coajomulco. That evening, authorities made the invention of an deserted car in a wooded space alongside kilometer 58 of the federal Cuernavaca-Mexico freeway. Contained in the car lay Figueroa’s physique, bearing a deadly gunshot wound to the pinnacle. The physique of one other man, whose identification has not but been revealed, was discovered by the facet of the automotive.
In the course of the protest, journalist Jaime Luis Brito voiced concern that the crime highlights the horrible violence and ungovernability plaguing the state. According to this, the Government of Morelos condemned Figueroa’s homicide by its X (previously Twitter) account, calling on authorities from the State Legal professional Normal’s Workplace to conduct thorough investigations to determine these accountable. It additionally introduced that the Victims’ Help Fee would offer assist to Figueroa’s relations.
Whereas the prosecutor’s workplace has not confirmed whether or not Figueroa’s homicide was linked to his journalistic work, his colleagues declare it was. One spokesperson for the journalists current on the mobilization stated their perception that Figueroa’s killing was immediately tied to his career. Protesters held indicators studying “You don’t kill the reality by killing journalists. Cease impunity,” “No extra violence” and “Press. Don’t shoot.” As well as, the assembled journalists demanded that the Mexican Congress take motion to guard the proper to freedom of expression. Echoing their name, the Secretary Normal of the Confederation of Mexican Staff and Senator of the Republic, Carlos Aceves del Olmo, condemned Figueroa’s homicide by his X account and joined the refrain searching for a free and protected press in Mexico.
The Particular Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Fee on Human Rights additionally condemned Figueroa’s homicide, urging authorities to diligently examine the crime, discover these accountable, and make sure that the crime doesn’t go unpunished. The Fee underscored that violent acts concentrating on journalists have a threefold detrimental influence: first, they infringe upon the victims’ elementary proper to freely specific, share, and disseminate concepts, opinions, and data; second, they forged a chilling impact that silences and intimidates fellow journalists; and third, they violate the broader rights of people and societies at massive to hunt out and obtain data and concepts of every kind.
12 months after 12 months, Mexico retains its unlucky standing as one of many deadliest and most perilous nations globally for journalists, in response to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Alarmingly, since 1995, the nation has witnessed the killings of 156 journalists, with 31 extra remaining missing. The group Article 19 reported that 2022 marked a peak, with a document 13 journalists murdered over the course of the 12 months. RSF has leveled sharp criticism at Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in energy since 2018, accusing his administration of failing to implement the required reforms and measures to stem the relentless tide of violence concentrating on the press. The watchdog group additionally says that López Obrador and different high-ranking state officers have adopted hostile and stigmatizing rhetoric towards journalists, routinely accusing them of siding with the opposition.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
