Missing journalist found murdered in Mexico’s southern Guerrero state.
Victor Fernando Alvarez, who disappeared on April 2, is the second journalist to be murdered in Mexico this year.
A Mexican journalist who disappeared more than a week ago in the southern state of Guerrero was found dead on Saturday, becoming the second journalist to be murdered this year in the country.
Forensic tests on human remains in the seaside resort of Acapulco were identified as belonging to Victor Fernando Alvarez, who disappeared on April 2.
Last month, reporter Maria Elena Ferral was shot dead by two assailants on motorbikes while she was getting into her car in the eastern state of Veracruz.
The Guerrero human rights commission called on authorities to investigate Alvarez’s murder and to bring those responsible to justice.
Mexico is notoriously dangerous for the press with more than 100 reporters murdered since 2000.
Last week, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on Mexican authorities to “conduct a swift and credible” investigation into the killing of Ferral, and to hold those responsible to account.
“With the tragic and brutal killing of Maria Elena Ferral, Veracruz confirms its status as not only the deadliest state for reporters in Mexico, but the single most violent territory for the press in the entire Western Hemisphere,” said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative.
“Even as Mexico is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities must not turn away from their responsibility to thoroughly investigate her case, determine whether it was retaliation for her journalism, and bring her killers to justice.”
Last year, 10 journalists were murdered in Mexico, according to the Reporters Without Borders NGO.
Source: Reporters Without Borders