The state attorney for Baja California, Mexico arrested the alleged killer of journalist Abel López Aguilar, according to Azteca Noticias. López was the editor for the news website Tijuana Informativo and was found dead on the morning of Monday, Oct. 15.
Raúl Vásquez Hernández, 22, confessed to shooting the journalist, his father-in-law, after an argument during which they both had been drinking alcohol, according to the news agency AFP. Afterwards, the suspect brought the journalist to the hospital but fled when questioned about what happened, deciding instead to abandon his injured father-in-law in the Tijuana streets to die, according to EFE.
Organizations like Reporter Without Borders (RSF in French) and Article 19 criticized the investigation into the journalist's death. RSF sent an open letter to Mexican President-Elect Enrique Peña Nieto challenging the handling of the investigation that dismissed the reporter's recent work on drug trafficking as the most likely motive for the crime. Article 19 criticized the confusing management of information about the case and insisted that the authorities release clear, consistent information and respect society's right to know what happened.
On its website, Tijuana Informativo suspended its investigative work and announced that the journalist's daughter would assume leadership of the online publication on Thursday, Oct. 18.
Mexico is considered the most dangerous country in the Americas for the press. In its third report of the year, Article 19 documented 137 attacks on the press between January and September 2012, including eight armed assaults against media offices and six killings possibly linked to the reporters' work. For more information, see this map on attacks on the press in Mexico from the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
