Following the news of the murder of journalist Luis Martín Sánchez Íñiguez , a correspondent for La Jornada in Nayarit, human rights organizations and media outlets condemned the crime and urged authorities to investigate.
The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Pedro Vaca , condemned "the persistence of lethal violence against the press" in the country and reiterated his call to Mexican authorities to investigate the events and protect journalists at risk.
Yesterday, the Nayarit State Attorney General's Office confirmed the death of Sánchez Íñiguez, after his body was found in the town of El Ahuacate, Tepic.
The Mexico City Human Rights Commission stated that the first line of investigation in the case should focus on the journalistic work, while the Americas Program of the Committee to Protect Journalists demanded that authorities investigate the incident "immediately and credibly."
In 2023, at least four more journalists have been murdered in the country: Gerardo Torres Rentería in Guerrero; Abisaí Pérez Romero in Hidalgo; Ramiro Araujo Ochoa in Baja California ; and Marco Aurelio Ramírez in Puebla.
Meanwhile, Nayarit media outlets issued a statement demanding that the state governor, Miguel Ángel Navarro; President Andrés Manuel López Obrador; the mayor of Tepic, Geraldine Ponce Méndez; and the mayor of Xalisco, Heriberto Castañeda; as well as the Attorney General's Office (FGR) and the state prosecutor's office, exhaust all lines of investigation in the case of Sánchez Íñiguez and two other media workers reported missing: Osiris Maldonado and Jonathan Lora Ramírez, the latter of whom has already been located.
They also demanded that safety be guaranteed for practicing journalism. The events, they explained, "seriously affect not only the three people involved, but also their families, the profession, and society at large, because these are violent acts that disrupt public order and highlight the danger we all face at any given time."
They requested that the Special Prosecutor's Office for Crimes against Freedom of Expression of the Attorney General's Office (FGR) take over the investigation and handle it in accordance with the Standardized Investigation Protocol for these cases.
