(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 9 August 2000 IAPA press release: IAPA WARNS THAT KIDNAPPING IN MEXICO COULD SET A NEGATIVE PRECEDENT AGAINST PRESS FREEDOM Miami (9 August 2000) – Today, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) publicly asked the Mexican government to investigate the kidnapping of the owner of El Debate de Sinaloa […]
(IAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 9 August 2000 IAPA press release:
IAPA WARNS THAT KIDNAPPING IN MEXICO COULD SET A NEGATIVE PRECEDENT AGAINST PRESS FREEDOM
Miami (9 August 2000) – Today, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) publicly asked the Mexican government to investigate the kidnapping of the owner of El Debate de Sinaloa daily, Ildefonso Salido Ibarra, who was recently released, and to ensure that similar acts do not limit journalists’ ability to report freely in the future.
The hemispheric organisation strongly protested and condemned this act, and emphasised the need to identify those responsible and investigate the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping.
On 2 August, Salido Ibarra, 64, was abducted for economic reasons in Los Mochis, Sinaloa state, by the country’s North-Eastern coast. He was released on Saturday.
“The authorities need to pay careful attention to this incident, otherwise we fear that the situation will worsen and a dangerous precedent against press freedom in Mexico will be set,” stated Rafael Molina, chairman of the IAPA’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, of the Ahora magazine, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
It has been confirmed that Salido Ibarra is in good health following his release. The media businessman is president of the administration council of the El Debate editorial company, made up of the Los Mochis daily, and three other similarly named newspapers, based in the Sinaloa state cities of Culiacán, Guasave and Guamúchil.
