Mexican police officers found guilty of murdering journalist in rare conviction

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/28/mexico-police-moises-sanchez-journalist-guilty

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Two police officers have been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of a Mexican journalist, marking a rare conviction in a country where crimes committed against media members almost always remain in the realm of impunity.

The police officers, identified as Luigui Heriberto N and José Francisco N, were convicted of killing newspaper owner Moisés Sánchez in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, the most lethal jurisdiction for journalists in the hemisphere.

They were also ordered to pay $18,000 (£12,900) in compensation, according to a statement from the Veracruz prosecutor’s office.

Press freedom advocates and members of Sánchez’s own family say the convictions fall short as the local mayor – who is accused of ordering the murder – remains a fugitive, and six other police officers – accused of forming a drug-dealing gang and acting on the mayor’s orders – have not been prosecuted.

During the initial murder investigation, state prosecutors detained 36 officers – the entire police force of the town of Medellín de Bravo – for questioning.

“Two convictions of former police officers for breach of their legal duties is progress, but it is not justice,” Sánchez’s son Jorge wrote in Plumas Libres, an online news organisation.

Sánchez was kidnapped 2 January 2015 outside his home in the municipality of Medellín de Bravo in Veracruz state. His lifeless body was found three weeks later.

As he was pulled from his home, Sánchez pleaded with the assailants, “Please don’t hurt my family,” CPJ reported.

Veracruz officials originally said that Sánchez was not a journalist – a common practice by the authorities in states with atrocious records of infringing on press freedoms.

Sánchez moonlighted as a taxi driver to sustain his weekly newspaper, La Unión, and had reportedly angered the mayor by highlighting the poor state of municipal services and revealing the existence of citizen vigilante groups forming as a response to rampant insecurity.

Mexico remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for reporters and media workers.

Three journalists have been murdered in Mexico so far in 2015. Leobardo Vázquez was shot dead on 21 March in northern Veracruz as he worked at a taco stand next to his home. Like Sánchez, he worked in his taco business to subsidise a news venture.