José Rosario Olán Hernández said that the magazine he edits has published articles criticising several municipal councillors and civil servants.
(CEPET/IFEX) – On 18 December 2010, the house and car belonging to José Rosario Olán Hernández, editor of the magazine “Veredicto Popular” in Cárdenas, Tabasco state, was shot at. Although nobody was hurt, the house’s façade and the car were both damaged in the shooting.
According to Olán Hernández, the shooting took place at approximately 11 p.m., when a group of men driving in two vehicles opened fire on the journalist’s property. The house was hit at least 15 times while eight bullet holes were counted in the car. The journalist has filed a complaint with the Cárdenas Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Olán Hernández explained that “Veredicto Popular” only publishes news about politics, and does not practice sensationalist journalism. He acknowledged that the magazine in general and his column specifically, titled “El verdugo” (The executioner) has criticised the actions of several of the town’s civil servants and elected officials.
In a letter addressed to the state authorities, the National Commission for Human Rights and the Mexican president, the journalist wrote: “We understand this to mean that our comments have hurt someone who is in the position either to mobilise armed individuals or to ask for favours from organised crime. This is a desperate person, so much so that he has opted for intimidation by force.”
Olán Hernández named the former mayor of Cárdenas, Salvador Aquino Almeida, and the current head of public security, Lino Ramos Concepción, as two individuals who may be responsible for the shooting. Ramos Concepción distanced himself from the accusation, saying that he himself went to the journalist’s home after the shooting, accompanied by officers from the public security department, the army and the police. He also pointed out that he was the person who ordered a police car to guard the house, and that the case is being handled by another division as he was not authorised to investigate it.
(Please note this is an abridged translation.)
