IAPA condemns murder of journalist in Mexico

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) yesterday condemned the murder of a journalist in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and called on the country’s authorities to urgently carry out an exhaustive investigation to learn the motive for the crime.

The body of journalist Rafael Murúa Manríquez, director of the Radio Kashan FM portal, was found on Sunday, January 20, with several bullet wounds to the chest. Murúa Manríquez, a resident of Santa Rosalía in the Mulegé municipality in Baja California Sur state, had been missing since Saturday.

Murúa Manríquez, 34, had been since 2016 under the protection programme of the Procedure of Protection for People Defending Human Rights and Journalists for threats against him. In November last year, he complained again that he had received threats after criticising the mayor of Mulegé, Felipe Prado Bautista.

IAPA President María Elvira Domínguez offered condolences to the family and colleagues. Domínguez, editor of the Cali, Colombia, newspaper El País, urged the authorities to “urgently investigate the murder so as to determine those responsible, learn the reasons and apply justice”.

The chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Roberto Rock, said he regretted the first murder of a journalist in Mexico this year. Rock, editor of the Mexico City, Mexico, news portal La Silla Rota, added, “We must seriously assess the questionable effectiveness of the governmental protection plan of which in this case the journalist was subject for several years.”