The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today
expressed its deep consternation and shock following the murder of Mexican
Journalist Norberto Miranda Madrid, Director of Radio Vision's Web page, who
was gunned down in the Mexican town of Casas Grandes,
in Chihuahua State. The Federation says the killing
confirmed that Mexican journalists are no longer safe from violence, not even
inside the newsrooms.
Norberto, a crime reporter, was shot dead, execution
style, on Thursday 24 September in his radio's newsroom in the town of Casas Grandes on the Mexican border with United States,
by a commando group of five heavily armed men who station around ten in the
evening.
"We condemn this latest appalling crime against
Mexican journalists and demand that authorities offer full guarantee to our colleagues
who need to exercise their professional tasks in safety", said Gregorio
Salazar, Director of IFJ Latin America Office. "This murder, committed at work
place, has shown there is no safe place for journalists in Mexico. Our
colleagues in Mexico
are denied fundamental rights by criminal gangs and drug traffickers."
According to witness reports confirmed by official
sources, Norberto Miranda Madrid, who was also a columnist for the a number of
Mexican dailies under the penname of El Gallito died on the spot after having been shot
several times with assault weapons and guns.
I recent weeks, Miranda Madrid reported on crime in the
North West area of the state, especially in Casas Grandes, located 180 km of
Ciudad Juarez, where at least 25 people have been murdered during the month of
September. Several journalists reported fled to the United
States of America in 2008 after he had received death
threats in Mexico.
For more information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235
2207
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 123 countries worldwide