Miami (February 12, 2014)—The murder of Gregorio Jiménez de la Cruz, whose remains were found yesterday, was condemned today by the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), who urged the authorities of Mexico to determine responsibilities, prosecute and punish the perpetrators and masterminds of the kidnapping and murder of journalist.
The journalist’s remains were found in a clandestine grave together with another two bodies in the municipality of Las Choapas in Veracruz, as reported by State Attorney Amadeo Flores. Jiménez de la Cruz had been kidnapped by armed men on February 5 in Coatzacoalcos after he had left his children at school that morning.
The official revealed that earlier this week one of the suspects who confessed his involvement in the kidnapping and murder, allegedly motivated by a "personal vendetta", had been arrested. The detainee identified Teresa Hernández Cruz, owner of a bar in Coatzacoalcos, as the person who hired the murderers.
Jiménez de la Cruz covered the police beat for the Veracruz newspapers Notisur and Liberal del Sur and according to his widow, Carmela Hernández, he reported several murders committed against migrants in the bar, after which he was threatened by the owner of the property. Hernández Cruz and three others have since been arrested.
Claudio Paolillo, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, urged the Mexican authorities “to solve the crime in its entirely pointing out motive and identifying all responsible in order to process and apply appropriate sanctions.”
Paolillo, editor of the Montevideo, Uruguay, weekly Búsqueda, added, “Justice without shyness is society’s weapon to weaken the perpetrators and stop impunity.”
The IAPA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and of expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 print publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida. For more information please go to http://www.sipiapa.org.
