Mexico: journalist assassinated, third since the start of the year

Text by: RFI Follow

Journalist Jorge Armenta was killed in an armed attack in Ciudad Obregon, in northern Mexico. A municipal policeman was also killed and another injured. Jorge Armenta, who had protection for those at risk, is the third journalist murdered since the start of the year in Mexico. 

Publicity

Jorge Armenta, director of online media Medios Obson , had received threats and benefited from a protection program for threatened persons, human rights defenders and journalists, Agence France-Presse Balbina Flores told the representative in Mexico of Reporters in Frontières.

According to this NGO, three journalists have been murdered since January in this country, one of the most violent on the planet. In April, a missing journalist was found dead in Acapulco (southwest), and in late March, a reporter was killed in the eastern state of Veracruz. Maria Helena Ferral previously denounced multiple death threats and attacks by local politicians.

Dangerous country for journalists

Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. The organization often denounces the pressures and threats against journalists in their daily work.

Las autoridades mexicanas deben inmediatamente y de forma exhaustiva investigar las amenazas contra el diario @Reforma. El Mecanismo Federal de Protección de @SEGOB_mx debe implementar las medidas necesarias para proteger al personal del periódico. #Mexicohttps: //t.co/AWO9gfV1fE

More than a hundred of them have been murdered since 2000, including 10 in 2019, according to Reporters Without Borders. And most of these murders go unpunished, denounces Balbina Flores.

► see also: RSF annual report: Mexico, a murderous country for journalists

Friday, May 15, the NGO had denounced "negligence" and "delays" in the legal process around the assassination in 2017 of Javier Valdez , Mexican journalist and collaborator of AFP, known for his investigations into the trafficking of drug.

#JusticiaaCuentaGotas ✒️🚔 | A mil 94 días del crimen contra Javier Valdez, seguimos con muchas preguntas ¿quién lo mando matar? What is there? > Balbina Flores Martínez https://t.co/D4qa7NDvvJ

The murder of the co-founder of the weekly Riodoce and collaborator of the big daily La Jornada , had caused a wave of international indignation. Javier Valdez was killed outside his office after investigations into the influence in his home region of drug trafficking networks like that of El Chapo (Joaquin Guzman), who is now serving a life sentence in United States.

► Read also : The murderer of Javier Valdez condemned, a ray of hope for the press

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Mexico
• Media