A week after the last murder of a journalist, the Undersecretary of Public Security, Ricardo Mejía Berdeja, reported on the recent actions and results of the lines of investigation of the cases of the six journalists killed so far in 2022.
In the morning conference, from Tijuana, Baja California, Mejía Berdeja recounted the progress in the investigations into four communicators killed in the first two months of the year; among them are Lourdes Maldonado and Margarito Martínez, murdered days apart in the state.
On the recount, President López Obrador reiterated that impunity is not allowed in his government and that, compared to the past six-year terms, “we do not establish relations of complicity with anyone and whoever commits a crime, is investigated and punished.”
He also stressed that “the State is not the main violator of human rights,” since, as he mentioned, there are no massacres, disappearance orders, nor is there the level of lethality that there was during the administration of previous presidents.
“We regret what happens when a journalist loses his life, we are very sorry, sincerely, but it is not the same in terms of the attitude that prevailed previously, and we will continue to fight insecurity, crime and impunity,” he said.
Count: progress in investigation into four journalists
Lourdes Maldonado
Lourdes Maldonado, murdered on January 23.
Derived from the different works on route tracking and the modus operandi of the perpetrators, authorities located a taxi-type vehicle in which they arrived at Lourdes Maldonado’s home and then fled.
From this, at the beginning of the week a control judge linked to the process three people allegedly related to the murder of the journalist, reported the Attorney General’s Office of Baja California.
Erick ‘N’, Guillermo ‘N’ and Kevin ‘N’, were linked to criminal proceedings for the crime of qualified homicide. In addition, Mejía Berdeja assured that different lines of investigation are being followed to find another subject who could be in charge of the intellectual authorship.
In this regard: 3 alleged perpetrators of the murder of journalist Lourdes Maldonado linked to trial
For his part, López Obrador denied that Maldonado’s murder was linked to a labor dispute he had with the former governor of Baja California, Jaime Bonilla Valdez, and asked to wait for the results of the investigation.
“What I would not recommend using these unfortunate facts for political purposes because you can not even talk about politicians. Governor Bonilla confronted the corrupt conservatives, this situation exists and they want to get a crack, that does not mean that there is impunity, it is just that we do not advance summary trials.”
.@lopezobrador_ says that “there is nothing that points to a relationship” between the murder of journalist Lourdes Maldonado and the conflict she had with former governor @Jaime_BonillaV, and asks not to use the issue “for political purposes.” pic.twitter.com/u5zRAB8n5J
— Animal Político (@Pajaropolitico) February 17, 2022
Journalist Lourdes Maldonado was murdered on the afternoon of Sunday, January 23, in the Santa Fe neighborhood, in the city of Tijuana, Baja California; she was found dead aboard a vehicle with gunshot wounds.
In March 2019, he traveled from Tijuana to Mexico City to appear at President López Obrador’s morning show, in which he expressed that he feared for his life, derived from a labor lawsuit with a television station owned by Jaime Bonilla.
Margarito Martinez
Margarito Martínez, murdered on 19 January.
The Undersecretary of Public Security reported that in the case of the murder of independent reporter and photographer Margarito Martínez Esquivel, “a possible link between a criminal group is not ruled out.”
He assured that “there is a lot of confidence” that with the information and evidence collected, judicial orders can be generated for searches and arrest warrants.
We tell you: Subject investigated for the murder of photojournalist Margarito Martínez is arrested
On January 19, the Baja California Prosecutor’s Office arrested Ángel ‘N’, who is among the investigations into the murder of Martínez Esquivel.
Two days earlier, Margarito Martínez Esquivel had been murdered outside her home in the Sánchez Taboada neighborhood, in the city of Tijuana, in Baja California.
Heber Lopez
Heber López, murdered on February 10.
After the murder of the reporter, on February 10, the municipal police of Salina Cruz arrested in flagrante delicto the two material authors: Ricardor ‘N’, ‘El Richard’, and Ricardo ‘N’.
Other alleged perpetrators of the crime tried to rescue both subjects from the separations of the Prosecutor’s Office of Salina Cruz, which did not bear fruit, and then an operation was carried out to transfer them to the CERESO de Tanivet, in Oaxaca.
Mejía Berdeja stressed that the lawyers of the accused tried to stop the arrest warrant, “but the good work of the prosecutors generated that it was qualified as legal” and on Friday their link to criminal proceedings for homicide will be determined.
Read more: Heber López: the reporter who denounced corruption in Oaxaca cost him his life
In Political Animal we reveal that one of Heber’s alleged murderers is the brother of Arminda Espinosa Cartas, a former municipal agent of Salinas del Marqués, identified in several journalist’s notes for alleged corruption.
Heber Lopez was shot dead on Feb. 10, days before his 43rd birthday, as he was leaving a studio he was remodeling in Salina Cruz.
Jose Luis Gamboa
José Luis Gamboa, murdered on January 10.
Undersecretary Ricardo Mejía reported that Gamboa Arenas was not incorporated into the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, nor had he requested access to it.
In addition, the State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists of Veracruz announced that the communicator had no history of aggression, information on incidents or records of threats.
Also: Journalist José Luis Gamboa killed in the port of Veracruz
On January 10, journalist José Luis Gamboa Arenas, general director of the digital newspaper Inforegio, was killed in the port of Veracruz. His body had stab wounds.
The State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists indicated that the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Veracruz (FGE) will be in charge of determining if the homicide is related to their professional practice.
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