Mexican authorities have 16 arrested for murders of journalists in 2022

Mexican authorities have 16 arrested for murders of journalists in 2022 = (Video) = Mexico, 17 Mar 2022 (AFP) - Authorities have arrested 16 people for their alleged involvement in four of the murders of journalists recorded this year in Mexico, the government reported on thursday.While presenting a review of the State's actions in the face of the crimes of reporters, the Undersecretary of Security, Ricardo Mejía, said that the government has documented six homicides so far in 2022, the most recent being that of Armando Linares last Tuesday in Zitácuaro (Michoacán, west) .However, organizations that defend freedom of the press, such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and local Article 19, have recorded eight cases since last January. “This year there have been six murders of journalists, of which there are currently 16 detainees,” Mejia said, without explaining the difference with the figures of the OENEGÉS.During the daily conference of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the undersecretary pointed out that for the murder of the photographer Margarito Martínez, perpetrated on January 17 in Tijuana (northwest), there are ten detainees, including some of the alleged masterminds. Three more men were apprehended for the crime of reporter Lourdes Maldonado, executed on January 23 also in Tijuana, and another two by that of Heber López, on February 10 in Oaxaca (south) One more man is imprisoned for the murder of journalist Juan Carlos Muñiz, on March 4 in Zacatecas (north) .The cases of Linares and José Luis Gamboa - which was completed on January 10 in Veracruz (east) - have not yet been captured, the official said. A previous report by López Obrador reported 17 persons apprehended. In addition to these six cases, RSF has recorded the murder of Roberto Toledo (January 31), Linares's partner on the digital site Monitor Michoacán, and that of Jorge Luis Camero, on February 24, two weeks after leaving office at a mayor's office in Sonora (north) .Linares, who had denounced threats for publishing corruption cases, refused to be incorporated into a government program that protects half a thousand journalists, Mejía recalled. Two other employees of Monitor Michoacán left their place of origin and were relocated by the government, the official added. journalists committed in previous years, Mejía said that this month two men were sentenced to 31 years and three months in prison for the murder of journalist José Manuel Guadalupe Castillo, which occurred on June 11, 2020 in Sonora (northwest). He did not refer to mobile phones. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries for the press with nearly 150 homicides since 2000, according to RSF, which claims that impunity for these crimes reaches 92% .jg/axm/dga