Zoila Edith Márquez Chiu, a reporter for Línea Informativa in Zacatecas, has not been seen since 7 December 2013, and while local authorities have no information about possible motives for her disappearance, ARTICLE 19 is calling on them not to rule out a link to her work as a journalist.
Zoila Edith Márquez Chiu, a reporter for Línea Informativa in Zacatecas, has not been seen since 7 December 2013. Local authorities have no information about possible motives for her disappearance.
Zoila Edith has a degree in Communication Sciences and is a reporter and editor for Línea Informativa. As a journalist, she has covered broad topics and done surveys of citizens. One of the last reports she did was on a strike by student teachers in Zacatecas.
Omar Hernández Herrera, the director of Línea Informativa, said that Zoila Edith had not received any threats prior to her disappearance, nor had the media outlet experienced anything that they felt put them at risk.
Arturo Nahle García, the Zacatecas Public Prosecutor, told local media that by late on 8 December the journalist’s family had not received any calls for ransom, and that because of this his office had ruled out the possibility of a kidnapping.
The last person to make contact with the journalist was her husband Iván Pastor, who works for the NTR television station and is the brother of Héctor Pastor Alvarado, who has held varied public offices and is currently the local deputy for the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional ).
ARTICLE 19 calls on Zacatecas state authorities, as well as the Special Prosecutor for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE), to investigate the disappearance of Zoila Edith Márquez Chiu and to not discount a link to her work as a journalist.
ARTICLE 19 notes that the disappearance of this journalist has multiple effects on fundamental human rights, and calls on authorities to undertake all protective measures and research necessary in this case.
(Please note this is an abridged translation.)
