Journalist killed in Mexico

TOLUCA, Mexico – The head of a Mexican news website was found stabbed to death in the center of the country, authorities said on Saturday, August 24, the 10th such killing this year.

The body of Nevith Condes Jaramillo “was found Saturday morning… showing injuries from a sharp object,” the state prosecutor said in a statement.

An investigation has been opened to determine what happened.

Condes Jaramillo, 42, was the head of a local news site in Tejupilco and was also an announcer on a community radio station.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that, according to the journalist’s relatives, Condes Jaramillo had received threats in June and November of last year, and had sought federal protective measures as a result.

But relatives said he refused to follow through on the protection process due to the bureaucratic procedures involved, according to RSF.

The National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) condemned the killing and called for an investigation to punish those responsible.

“Violence against journalists, in all its forms, is one of the main obstacles to our country becoming stronger as a democracy,” the CNDH said in a statement.

RSF, which regularly ranks Mexico alongside war-torn Syria and Afghanistan as the world’s most dangerous countries for news media, said 9 journalists had previously been killed in Mexico this year. (READ: 3 journalists slain in Mexico in a week)

Since 2000, around 100 reporters have been killed in Mexico. Violence linked to drug trafficking and political corruption is rampant, and many murders go unpunished. – Rappler.com