@El Pais
On August 16th, the Sonora Prosecutor’s Office reported the discovery of a dead body with the characteristics of the disappeared journalist Juan Arjon Lopez, 62, who reported through the website “A qué le temes” in San Luis Rio Colorado on Mexico’s border with the United States.
Since August 9th, fellow communicators and journalists reported the disappearance of Arjon Lopez, who stopped publishing news and live broadcasts through his digital platforms since last Tuesday, August 2nd. On his page, he followed up on citizen complaints and published data revealed by police sources and City Hall officials.
The organization Article 19 reported that the journalist “was critical of the local authorities”, for which it urged the authorities to carry out an investigation into his death that does not dismiss his journalistic work as a motive for the crime.
“Since we learned about it through social networks, we began to organize searches everywhere. Now that the discovery has been made, work continues on the investigation to clarify the case and not rule out any line of investigation”, said the head of the Sonora Prosecutor’s Office, Claudia Indira Contreras.
This year is exceeding the worst figures known. Until the end of the week, authorities recognized the murder of 13 journalists so far this year. From the year 2000 to date, Article 19 has documented 157 murders of journalists in Mexico, of these, 37 were recorded during the mandate of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Animal Politico reports.
Unlike countries at war, where journalists can find themselves in crossfire, journalistic work in Mexico is uncomfortable with corruption and organized crime. Traditionally, these deaths are blamed on drug traffickers, who do not want to see their affairs in the media. But the specialists who are dedicated to documenting these crimes, such as the organization Article 19, pointed out on numerous occasions that most of them start with public officials, whether they are police chiefs or politicians, to protect their corruption or their collusion with drug trafficking in all its dimensions, reports El Pais.
For more information in Spanish:
Hallan sin vida al periodista Juan Arjón López; organizaciones condenan el asesinato (EDUCA, 17 de agosto de 2022)
Hallan sin vida al periodista Juan Arjón López en Sonora (La Jornada, 16 de agosto de 2022)
Identificado el cadáver de Juan Arjón López, el decimocuarto periodista muerto con violencia (El País, 16 de agosto de 2022)
Confirman en Sonora el hallazgo sin vida del periodista Juan Arjón López; investigarán relación con su labor (Animal Político, 16 de agosto de 2022)
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