1 September 2004

FEDERAL AUTHORITIES TAKE OVER MURDER INVESTIGATION


An investigation into the June 2004 murder of Mexican journalist Francisco Javier Ortiz Franco is now being taken up by federal prosecutors, report the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontierès, RSF).

The Attorney General's office announced on 18 August that federal prosecutors have taken over the investigation, citing evidence that Ortiz Franco's murder was linked to the powerful Arellano-Félix drug cartel. Ortiz Franco was gunned down by unidentified assailants on 22 June shortly after leaving a clinic with his two children. The children were unharmed (see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/59700).

Last week, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) posthumously awarded its 2004 Grand Prize for Freedom of the Press to Ortiz Franco, saying it hoped it would help draw international attention to his murder and to the impunity surrounding the murder of Mexican journalists (http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/60923).

A founder and co-editor of "Zeta," an award-winning weekly newspaper in Tijuana, Ortiz Franco was known for his investigative reporting on corruption and drug trafficking, notes CPJ. He had recently participated in an IAPA-led working group to review official investigations into the murders of two journalists, including "Zeta's" co-founder, Héctor Félix Miranda.

"Zeta" has reported on corruption and drug trafficking in Tijuana for many years, and has been the target of numerous threats and attacks, including an assassination attempt on its publisher, J. Jesús Blancornelas, in 1997 (see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/5765).

Visit these links:

- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2004/Mexico23aug04na.html
- IAPA: http://www.sipiapa.org
- Report by Working Group on Félix Miranda Case: http://www.impunidad.com/achievements/agreement_mexico_E.htm
- Zeta: http://www.zetatijuana.com/
- Background on the Arellano-Félix Cartel: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/780040.stm


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Also from the Communiqué, 1 September 2004

CHINA: JOURNALISTS FACE NEW THREATS AS CHINA OPENS UP ECONOMY 31 August 2004 IRAQ: ITALIAN JOURNALIST KILLED, FRENCH REPORTERS HELD HOSTAGE 1 September 2004 ZIMBABWE: PROPOSED NGO LAW WILL SILENCE CRITICS, WARNS ARTICLE 19 1 September 2004 TOGO: LEGAL REFORMS DECRIMINALISE DEFAMATION 1 September 2004 BRAZIL: DRAFT BILL SEEKS TO REGULATE JOURNALISTS 1 September 2004 INTERNATIONAL: TAKE ACTION! PEN CAMPAIGNS TO SUPPORT UZBEK, TURKISH ADVOCATES 1 September 2004 THAILAND: TJA MARKS 50 YEARS WITH PRESS FAIR 1 September 2004 INTERNATIONAL: CJFE SEEKS NOMINATIONS FOR PRESS FREEDOM AWARD 1 September 2004 INTERNATIONAL: SCHOLAR RESCUE FUND FELLOWSHIPS 1 September 2004

Mexico

Journalist Marcos Ávila García found dead in Sonora after being kidnapped 22 May 2012 IAPA condemns attack on El Mañana paper 15 May 2012 Three photojournalists found dead in Veracruz 4 May 2012 Yet another journalist murdered in Veracruz 30 April 2012 See all alerts: Mexico


North America

CANADA: Quebec's Bill 78 severely infringes on Charter rights 23 May 2012


 
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