Authorities reported that a journalist was fatally murdered on Monday afternoon in southern Mexico immediately after writing an online article regarding the abduction of 43 students from the area eight years earlier.
The local prosecutor's office reported Monday evening that Fredid Roman, who published his writing on several social media platforms and wrote to a local newspaper, was discovered dead in his automobile in the city of Chilpancingo, the state capital of Guerrero.
One of the worst human rights tragedies in Mexican history is the case of the 43 Guerrero students who vanished in 2014 after taking over a bus to travel to a demonstration.
The case was forced back into the spotlight last week when a truth commission branded the atrocity a “state crime” that involved agents of various institutions.
A few hours before his death, Roman published a long Facebook post titled “State Crime Without Charging the Boss,” in which he mentioned an alleged meeting between four officials at the time of the students’ disappearance, including former attorney general Jesus Murillo Karam.
Murillo Karam was arrested after the publication of the truth commission report last week, while dozens of warrants were issued for suspects including military personnel, police officers and cartel members.
It was not immediately clear if Roman’s recent post on the missing students or his other journalistic work played a role in his death.
Twelve journalists have been killed in Mexico so far this year, according to the government, while the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) lists nine. Some media outlets have put the figure at 15 or 16.
With about 150 journalists murdered since 2000, according to RSF, Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press.
Most of those murders remain unpunished.