Another journalist was killed in Mexico, which is one of the countries with the least level of safety for journalists in the world. The body of 59-year-old journalist Luis Enrique Ramizer was found on the side of the road in the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa state. The number of journalists killed in the country this year has risen to 9.
Ramizer, who was a columnist for the newspaper El Debate, was found wrapped in plastic in a black bag. In a statement from the international human rights organization Artículo 19, it was announced that Ramirez, who has a 40-year journalism career, had received threats before his death. Government spokesman Jesus Ramirez also said on his social media account that they were working with local authorities to clarify the incident and that “security measures will be increased for journalists.” According to the organization Journalists Without Borders (RSF), the number of journalists killed in Mexico since 2000 has risen to 152. Since Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office in 2018, 34 journalists have died as a result of attacks and assassinations.
Journalist Post Magazine, was published with the cover of ‘Journalism against all odds’ on May 3, World Press Freedom day, also carried the murders of journalists in Mexico on its pages.
Marcela Turati, is an investigative, award-winning journalist who investigates the victims of the drug war in Mexico and their backgrounds. Despite the threats she received, Turati told the Journalist Post about the recent situation in her country and what our colleagues are going through.
Emphasizing that people in Mexico are proof of the murders of journalists, Turati stated that she’ll continue to write, although she is afraid. Featured in her interview…
– A journalist wants to be free when writing. Do you feel free to write your articles or express your ideas?
Do I feel free to write my articles? There is a different kind of censorship and repression against journalists in Mexico. It is difficult to know which topics are prohibited. It is absolutely unclear what topics you can and cannot publish. It is also unclear from which areas you are allowed to collect information. If you collect information, you became a target to threats. Some threats are delivered directly and indirectly. We are unable to publish articles related to topics considered dangerous.
Journalists are often subjected to threats. It is possible to receive threats because you have access to information sources. The problem here is that even when there is no war, we face a lot of difficulties in the country that is the biggest threat to journalists in the world.
– in 2017, an armed person left a note saying that your colleague Miroslova Breach was murdered because she was thought that she was a “big mouth”. Even before you get out of your car, you are exposed to risks. What are these risks?
Everything is a mess in Mexico. The number of journalists killed this year is unknown because the authorities are hiding it. But we have a lot of cases for both protected journalists and those who were killed. And the disappearances are quite high as well.
We know that the cartels and the government are working together in many places. They think that the crime should take place quietly and that the public should never find out. There are many lawsuits against journalists that we don’t know what are they accused for. One of them is our friend De La Cruz, who was kidnapped. He was doing research on ecology. He published an article about the budget of natural resources, and then suddenly disappeared.
Javier Malde and Sienna Laura were also seen as threats. They were killed because of the news they had uncovered about a criminal organization. The government is not conducting any investigation. Journalists are targeted just because they pose a threat.
You can read the full interview in the Journalist Post Magazine…