(CEPET/IFEX) – According to information published in “La Jornada” newspaper, investigations conducted by the federal Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) have indicated that members of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca, APPO) were responsible for the assassination of U.S. journalist Bradley Will. […]
(CEPET/IFEX) – According to information published in “La Jornada” newspaper, investigations conducted by the federal Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) have indicated that members of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca, APPO) were responsible for the assassination of U.S. journalist Bradley Will. As such, the PGR apparently intends to request arrest warrants against several of the organisation’s members.
According to the information published in “La Jornada”, the PGR found that Will was shot at close range, which agrees with the previous findings of the Oaxaca Attorney General’s Office.
Will was a reporter and documentary maker with the Indymedia international media network, which is comprised of activists and 150 media outlets. He arrived in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, in October 2006 to cover demonstrations that were taking place in which civil society groups were calling for the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruís.
Will was killed on 27 October 2006 while filming a violent confrontation between APPO members and police in which shots were fired, in the community of Santa Lucía del Camino. Even after he was shot Will never let go of his camera, thus filming his own death.
According to “La Jornada”, the federal authorities have alleged that the assassins were among the APPO group members and have given details saying that during the confrontation a man located at a distance of less than 50 centimetres to the right of Will was responsible for firing the first shot at the journalist.
The newspaper added that, according to the PGR’s investigation, the shooter did not fire at Will from the front because he did not want to be caught on film. At the time of the shooting, Will was filming from behind a truck that was providing protection to APPO members.
Sources said that, after Will was shot, a group of men lifted him off the street and onto the sidewalk. At that time, according to the sources, Will was apparently shot again from a distance of about 65 metres.
According to “La Jornada”, the PGR knows the identity of the killers and those who assisted them, but a federal judge has apparently refused to issue “restriction orders” against the alleged assassins. “Despite this, the PGR already has several individuals who represented APPO in the 2006 negotiations with the governance secretariat under surveillance,” the article concluded.
Updates the Will case: http://ifex.org/en/content/view/full/94561