By Samantha Badgen
Mexican journalist Sofía Valdivia reported that she is being investigated by the country's Office of the General Prosecutor (PGR in Spanish) for posting on her Twitter account about the possible return of a criminal group in Oaxaca, news site Animal Político reported.
In an interview with the site, Valdivia, radio host of the news show “Metrópoli,” said that on Jan. 22 she was visited during her show by a man who identified himself as a detective.
“At first I thought he wanted to share a complaint, since sometimes my program provides that sort of service, but he told me he wanted to meet me, know what I do, what my job is. I asked him why he was so interested and that was when he told me there was a PGR investigation going on because of what I published on Twitter,” Valdivia said.
Press freedom organization Article 19 said that the detective showed Valdivia a document that said Jarquín Díaz, the head of the PGR's department specializing in crimes committed against freedom of expression in Oaxaca, had requested an urgent and exhaustive investigation against Valdivia for possible ties to organized crime.
The agent questioned her about the information she published, who had sent it to her, and from what phone number. Before leaving he told her she would be called in to give her testimony shortly.
Article 19 described the incident as an attempt to criminalize freedom of expression and considered that, if the case goes before a judge and leads to the eventual arrest of Valdivia, it would establish a harmful precedent for freedom of expression in Mexico.
“It’s not about trying to defend myself, but trying to defend freedom of expression,” Valdivia said, according to Animal Politico.
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.
