Mexican journalists protest over colleague’s murder

Maria Elena Ferral. (Social media)

• Ferral had many times complained of death threats and aggressions she suffered from local political figures

COATZACOALCOS, MEXICO: Journalists in Mexico’s eastern state of Veracruz protested on Tuesday against the murder of a reporter, demanding justice in a country that is notoriously dangerous for the press.
Maria Elena Ferral, a correspondent for the Diario de Xalapa daily newspaper, was shot by two assailants on motorbikes when getting into her car, local officials said on Monday.
Carrying banners and placards, journalists blocked a motorway, demanded justice and asked for police to use Ferral’s work as a starting point for their investigation.
Mexico is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters, with more than 100 murdered since 2000.
This was the first such murder recorded in the country this year, though.
The Veracruz journalists network released a statement asking Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to “investigate the threats and background that she denounced previously.”
The local public prosecutor promised there would be “no impunity” for Ferral’s murderers.
Ferral had many times complained of death threats and aggressions she suffered from local political figures.
She worked in the Papantla mountainous area, around 300 kilometers from the port of Veracruz, known for the regular disappearance of people at the hands of the police.