A Mexican journalist from Veracruz was rescued by members of the Secretariat of Public Security after being abducted on June 12.
Marco Miranda Cogco reported via Noticias A Tiempo, the Facebook news page which he founded, that he was making statements to the public prosecutor. He expressed thanks to God, his family, friends, fellow journalists and other supporters.
In a video in which the journalist is initially wearing a neck brace, he said he was rescued at 1:30 a.m. during a confrontation between security forces and the people who abducted him.
According to Miranda, the security forces stopped the van he was in after it went along an unpaved road in those early morning hours. He said the people who abducted him were moving him to another house, but he thought they might kill him.
The journalist said he threw himself to the floor of the vehicle once the shooting started.
Miranda said he was hit repeatedly on the back of the neck, and that he was held naked in a room and that photos were taken of him, which they would use against him.
According to Miranda, this was the third incident he has suffered. He said that six or eight years ago he was attacked by a criminal group, and on another occasion they unsuccessfully tried to abduct him on the highway.
Miranda said that governor has instructed for guards from the local police to be assigned to him and a police car will be at his home for 24 hours a day until the case is resolved.
After a few days of rest, Miranda said he will continue working.
“I will continue criticizing all that is wrong and they will not stop me,” he said. “I will continue with my critical editorial line against the government, and the authorities will investigate where this came from.”
In the early morning hours of June 12, armed men in vans abducted Miranda as he took his granddaughter to school. In a video on Facebook posted by Diario Veracruz, the journalist’s wife said he had always received threats from local authorities and she made allegations against Eric Patrocinio Cisneros Burgos, secretary of government of Veracruz, and Cuitláhuac García, the current governor of Veracruz.
Following the abduction, Cisneros denied having threatened Miranda, according to Palabras Claras. The governor posted to Twitter “We are not wicked, we will continue to respect freedom of expression.”
