July 19, 11

NEWS / Senior UN official deplores murder of third Mexican journalist in one month

19 July 2011 –
The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has condemned the killing of a Mexican journalist, the latest addition to what she called “the long list of victims sacrificed at the altar of freedom of expression.”

Angel Castillo Corona wrote about local politics for the regional newspapers Puntual and Diario de México in Ocuilan. On 4 July, unidentified assailants beat him to death on the highway from Ocuilan to Tiaguistenco in an attack in which his 16-year-old son was also killed.

Irina Bokova, the Director General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), condemned the murder of Mr. Castillo, the third journalist killed in Mexico in just one month.

“Sadly, the name of Mr. Castillo is but the newest addition to Mexico’s alarmingly long list of victims sacrificed on the altar of freedom of expression,” she stated in a news release.

“I call on the authorities to spare no effort in pursuing criminals who use violence to curb the media.”

Mr. Castillo’s son was killed in the attack when his father’s attackers ran him over with their car, according to the non-governmental watchdog Reporters without Borders.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39074&Cr=journalist&Cr1=