Deputy editor shot dead by unknown attackers
|
Deputy editor shot dead by unknown attackers
| |
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is
deeply shocked at the killing on June 22, 2004 of journalist
Francisco Ortiz Franco. The deputy editor of the weekly
newspaper Zeta was reportedly gunned down in front of his
children in the city of Tijuana. He had
just left a clinic when he was shot three times by
unidentified assailants firing from a pick-up truck.
Zeta has a reputation for its outspoken reporting
on drug trafficking gangs in Tijuana. Ortiz Franco himself was
the author of a column on legal affairs.
It appears highly likely that he was murdered because of his
work for the newspaper.
Zeta’s co-founder, Héctor Félix Miranda, was shot dead
in April 1988. In 1997, the newspaper’s publisher,
Jesús Blancornelas, survived an attempt on his life in
which both his bodyguard and driver were killed. One of
the two men convicted for the murder of Félix Miranda was a
bodyguard employed by businessman Jorge Hank Rhon who
is currently a candidate in the mayoral elections in Tijuana and who
comes from one of Mexico’s most powerful political families.
International PEN repudiates the murder
of Francisco Ortiz Franco and calls upon the
Mexican authorities to investigate the matter
fully and bring all those responsible to justice.
Recommended Actions
Please send appeals:
Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos Palacio Nacional Edif. 10 Planta baja Col. Centro Del. Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06067 México, D. F. Fax : +52 55 5522 4117 Attorney General of Baja California Antonio Willehaldo Martínez Luna Procurador General de Justicia Río Suchiate y Río Nazas s/n Col. Revolución 22400 Tijuana Baja California México Fax: +52 664 686-4268 e-mail: amartinez@pgjebc.gob.mx Please also send a copy of your appeal to the Mexican representation in your country. For further information please contact Dixe Wills - WiPC Africa and Americas Researcher
|