Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
This Mexican journalist who had reportedly received death threats from politicians has been shot dead by a biker gunman.
Journalist Maria Elena Ferral, 50, died yesterday (Monday) in the regional hospital of Poza Rica in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, according to the local newspaper Diario de Xalapa, who she worked for.
Ferral, who belonged to the Mexican Editorial Organisation, had reportedly been shot at on the same day as she was walking towards her car in the city of Papantla by a gunman on a motorbike.
At least six shots were fired and the journalist was injured in her arm, leg and abdomen.
She was taken to the nearest hospital where relatives reportedly asked for blood donations due to her serious condition.
The Government of Veracruz said in a press statement that they will investigate the murder of the woman who wrote about crimes in the state and had previously said she had received death threats from politicians working there.
She said she had received threats from politicians in the “upper sphere” in 2016.
No motive has been provided for the crime.
According to the data of the Committee of Protection for Journalists,120 reporters have been murdered in Mexico since 1994. During the government of Enrique Pena Nieto, 38 murders of journalists have been reported, making it one of the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters.
The President of the Commission of Attention and Protection of Journalists in the local congress, Maryjose Gamboa, condemned the attack and asked authorities to serve justice.
Gamboa also asked the prosecution to speed up the investigation to find and punish the culprits,
The organisation Reporters Without Borders condemned the murder and asked for it to be investigated as soon as possible.
The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been reported.
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