“Two reporters, asking to remain anonymous for safety reasons, alerted CPJ [Committee to Protect Journalists] that [Eréndira] Reyes—founder and editor of Facebook-based news page San Wicho Times and the magazine Capital—had been arrested on May 21 by state police in San Luis Potosí, the state capital. [Her daughter Alejandra] Hermosillo was also arrested that same day. According to the National Registry of Detentions, Reyes and Hermosillo are still being held at the ‘La Pila’ state penitentiary.
The reporters also shared a photo with CPJ of what appeared to be an arrest warrant against several journalists among eleven people. In a May 21 statement, the San Luis Potosí state prosecutor’s office confirmed Reyes and Hermosillo’s arrests, alleging ‘deliberate and illegal manipulation of the digital identity of the victim.’ The statement did not name the victim or mention arrest warrants against other journalists.
‘Jailing journalists on vague charges of ‘illegal use of AI’ is a clear escalation of the already sharp rise in cases of judicial harassment against journalists in Mexico, which continues to be the most dangerous country for journalists in the western hemisphere,’ said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ’s Mexico representative. ‘The San Luis Potosí state authorities must immediately cease this aggressive crackdown on the press.’”
