(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is deeply disturbed by the murder of journalist Roberto Javier Mora García in the early hours of 19 March 2004 and welcomes the investigation that has since been launched by the judicial authorities. Mora García, aged 42, the editorial director of the newspaper “El Mañana” and editor of […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is deeply disturbed by the murder of journalist Roberto Javier Mora García in the early hours of 19 March 2004 and welcomes the investigation that has since been launched by the judicial authorities.
Mora García, aged 42, the editorial director of the newspaper “El Mañana” and editor of the weekly “North Mexico Business”, was reportedly stabbed 26 times near his home in the Mexico/United States border town of Nuevo Laredo. The motives for his killing are as yet unclear. However, since neither his car nor his wallet were stolen by his assailants, mere robbery has been discounted.
On 22 March, Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada informed Ninfa Deánder Martínez, “El Mañana”‘s director general, that he had given instructions to the federal authorities to work with local bodies to carry out an investigation into the murder of Mora García and to bring those responsible to justice. He also stated that his government “was totally committed to defending the right of freedom of expression and would not allow shadowy figures to muzzle or terrorise journalism.”
According to a report on the “El Mañana” website (www.elmañana.com.mx), State Ministerial Police Commander Alberto del Ángel Hernández stated that police were looking at three possible motives for the killing. The first was Mora’s journalistic work, the second that he happened to witness a robbery and was killed to stop him from testifying, and the third, a hypothesis that was still in its formative stages, that he had been the victim of mistaken identity. According to the police commander, two separate groups are collaborating in the investigation of the crime, one is led by José Guadalupe Castillo Celestino, the State Ministerial Police’s state director, and the other is headed by Salvador Arredondo Arredondo, the state’s regional justice prosecutor.
Ironically, on 14 February, Mora had written an “El Mañana” editorial about the shockingly high murder rate in Nuevo Laredo. Commenting on the fact that 12 people had been killed in the previous 45 days, he wrote, “This means that, at the current rate, by the end of the year the number of victims could easily be similar to or greater than last year’s 75.”
