“Iran Villarreal Belmont, director of an independent news page and former candidate for city councilor, was murdered in [the Mexican state of] Guanajuato, the local prosecutor's office said on Friday [March 14]. Villarreal Belmont […] was also an activist and the director of the Facebook page Observatorio Ciudadano, with more than 8,400 followers.
According to police sources, Villarreal Belmont had been missing since Thursday night, when it was reported that armed individuals subdued and abducted him from an office. On Friday morning, Villarreal was found dead on the side of a road with gunshot wounds to his body, authorities said.
The Guanajuato prosecutor's office reported that it is investigating the crime under the protocol of ‘crimes committed against freedom of expression,’ according to a press release.”
