A Mexican journalist held in prison started a hunger strike on the night of Wednesday, July 25, protesting against her transfer to a psychiatric clinic, reported the newspaper El Universal.
María Luisa Paulín Hernández, director of the news portal Código San Luis, was sent to jail in October 2011 for allegedly diverting about $2.2 million in public funds from contracted local news media advertising during her tenure as communications director for the state of San Luis Potosí, explained the newspaper La Jornada.
The news site Código San Luis accused authorities of transferring the journalist to a section of the prison for the mentally ill without orders or official documents.
Also, the news portal said that this is a case of "political revenge" since the journalist is still held prisoner despite having a protection order granting her release. In May, a judge exonerated the journalist of the charges, but the state government responded with a petition to review her case which is now pending in another court, reported the newspaper Milenio.
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.
