The mayor of Veracruz was linked to trial for the murder of journalist Jacinto Romero Flores

The elected mayor of Ixtaczoquitlán of the state of Veracruz, Patricio Alejandro “N”, known as the “Munra”, was linked to prosecution for the alleged crime of murder qualified malicious.

The mayor for the Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) party was arrested in mid-April for his alleged involvement in the murder of journalist Jacinto Romero Flores, who was shot dead in 2021.

According to a statement from the Attorney General's Office of the State of Veracruz (FGE), the link was the result of the continuation of the initial hearing, where sufficient evidence was presented. Subsequently, the judge of trial and oral criminal procedure of the judicial district of Xalapa based in Pacho Viejo granted the detainee's association.

Similarly, the trial judge imposed a precautionary measure of informal preventive detention for one year and three months of further investigation.

Patricio Alejandro is the fourth person arrested for the murder of the journalist, who was gunned down in his car when he went out of his way to attend to someone, when he was intercepted by armed persons.

Among those arrested are Casto “N”, Ana Laura “N” and Roberto Trinidad de la Cruz, who was also president of the municipality for the Morena party. The three were also linked to the trial and remain in the medium security prison of La Toma, in Amatlán de los Reyes.

It should be noted that Munra has been identified as one of the main generators of violence, as well as having alleged links within organized crime groups such as Los Zetas and currently with the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG), according to local media in Veracruz.

Also on Wednesday afternoon, family and friends of the elected mayor demonstrated outside the premises of the Pacho Viejo prison, demanding the release of Patricio Alejandro, who argued that they charge the official with a crime he did not commit.

They attended with banners and posters with messages of support in favor of the official such as “We demand justice for Patricio!!!” or “We want freedom for Patricio”, among others.

Jacinto Romero Flores was killed on August 19, 2021 while driving in his car in the municipality of Ixtaczoquitlán, Veracruz. He was the announcer for Ori Sterero and the program Radio Ixtac Online.

He was found inside his red unit with “press” signs. Germán Romero, the journalist's son, also stated that days before the murder, he had received threats because of his journalistic work.

Faced with the murder, the Governor of the State of Veracruz, Cuitlahuac García Jimenez, condemned the crime and declared that the murder would not go unpunished.

“We reiterate that they will not be allowed to try to intimidate the population, and in particular, much less journalists, so any attempt to that effect will not go unpunished,” the governor wrote on his Facebook account on the day of the murder.

Subsequently, the Office in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN-DH) pointed out that the crime was evidence of context of vulnerability and risk in which Mexican journalists work.

And they demanded that the murder be thoroughly investigated and that the relevant lines of investigation be exhausted, including the possible relationship of their journalistic work.

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