In 4th Such Murder This Year, Radio Journalist Shot Dead in Mexico
Telesforo Santiago Enriquez was attacked by gunmen late Thursday in the town of Juchitan, Oaxaca state.
A journalist who founded a community radio station in an indigenous region in southern Mexico was shot dead, the fourth reporter murdered in the country this year, officials said on Friday, 3 May.
He had recently received threats in an on-air phone call during his program, where he was known for reporting on corruption by local authorities, his niece told Mexican radio network Formula.
"On the radio waves, Santiago Enriquez expressed his analysis and criticism of the government and recently publicly denounced the municipal authorities for alleged diversion of resources," the National Human Rights Commission, Mexico's ombudsman's office, said in a statement.
Watchdog group Reporters Without Borders ranks the country as the third-most-dangerous in the world for the press, after war-torn Afghanistan and Syria.
"This latest murder is a reminder of how dangerous it is to practice journalism in Mexico," the group's Latin America director, Emmanuel Colombie, said in a statement.
"They shot him in the mouth and heart," she said.
Santiago Enriquez was also a school teacher, and was known for his work to preserve the region's indigenous languages and traditions, she said.
The murder was confirmed on World Press Freedom Day, when journalists in Mexico typically hold protests against the dangers they face for doing their jobs.
Published in an arrangement with PTI)
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