Mexico’s Fox to seek special prosecutor to fight crimes against free expression
New York, September 15, 2005—Mexican President Vicente Fox said today he will ask his nation’s attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate crimes against free expression, a commitment made after a series of deadly attacks against journalists in Mexico’s northern states. Meeting with a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists at the…
Newspaper employees dragged from offices
New York, July 19, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the violent removal of 31 employees from the offices of the Oaxaca-based daily Noticias. The employees had been confined to their offices for the last several weeks, due to a blockade erected by a striking, pro-government union. Around 8 p.m. Monday night, dozens…
Ex-police chief detained in photographer’s murder
New York, July 7, 2005—An ex-police chief in Mexico is being held for alleged involvement in the November 2004 gangland-style slaying of Gregorio Rodríguez Hernández, a photographer with the Mazatlán edition of the newspaper El Debate, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, according to press reports. Abel Enríquez Zavala was detained on Sunday after investigators…
WHO KILLS JOURNALISTS AND WHY? Report by the Committee to Protect Journalists to the Committee of Inquiry
Doha, Qatar, Monday, May 23, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists has analyzed the deaths of journalists across the world for many years, producing two recent reports that highlight alarming trends in the circumstances, locations, and motives. At least 339 journalists were killed on duty between 1995 and 2004, according to CPJ research compiled in January.…
Federal investigators take over probe
New York, April 18, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the loss of Mexican crime reporter Dolores Guadalupe García Escamilla, who died Saturday from injuries she suffered in an April 5 shooting in front of her radio station in the border city of Nuevo Laredo. García Escamilla had been hospitalized in critical condition since she…
Newspaper owner killed in Gulf Coast ambush
New York, April 11, 2005—The owner of a Mexican Gulf Coast daily that covered organized crime and drug dealing was killed in weekend ambush just hours after he oversaw the launch of a new edition of his newspaper. The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed alarm at the brazen attack and called on Mexican authorities…