A journalist was shot dead yesterday in southern Mexico, authorities disclosed, shortly after posting online about the disappearance about eight years ago of 43 students from a nearby area.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that Mr. Fredid Roman, who published his work on various social media pages and contributed to a local newspaper, was found dead in his car in the city of Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state, the local prosecutor’s office said yesterday evening.
One of the worst human rights tragedies in Mexican history is the case of the 43 Guerrero students who vanished in 2014 after taking over a bus to travel to a demonstration.
Last week, the issue was thrust back into the public eye when a truth panel declared the atrocity to be a “state crime” involving representatives from several organisations.
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A few hours before his death, Roman published a long Facebook post titled ‘State Crime Without Charging the Boss,’ in which he mentioned an alleged meeting between four officials at the time of the students’ disappearance, including former attorney general Jesus Murillo Karam.
Murillo Karam was arrested after the publication of the truth commission report last week, while dozens of warrants were issued for suspects including military personnel, police officers and cartel members.
It was not immediately clear if Roman’s recent post on the missing students or his other journalistic work played a role in his death.
Twelve journalists have been killed in Mexico so far this year, according to the government, while the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) lists nine. Some media outlets have put the figure at 15 or 16.
With about 150 journalists murdered since 2000, according to RSF, Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press.
Most of those murders remain unpunished.
