Of the 67 killings and 14 disappearances of journalists in Mexico since 2006, in only one case have the perpetrators been brought to justice, according to a special prosecutor testifying before a Congressional panel in Mexico City, reported the Associated Press and the Examiner.
Special prosecutor Laura Borbolla said that since September 2010, 31 criminal investigations are underway and 74 suspects have been identified in attacks against journalists in Mexico, but she did not say whether any of the suspects had been arrested and none of the cases have been solved, reported the newspapers El Universal and the Guardian. The prosecutor acknowledged that authorities have been slow to guarantee journalists' freedom of expression, according to the news agency EFE.
Borbolla said that only 5 percent of the 31 cases of crimes against journalists are related to organized crime, explained the magazine Proceso.
Mexico is the most dangerous country in the hemisphere for journalists. See this map of attacks against the Mexican press 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.
