(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, RSF expressed its indignation over the assassination of José Ramírez Puente, director of the news programme Juárez Hoy broadcast on Radio Net 1490 – a radio station based in Ciudad Juárez, in the northern State of Chihuahua. According to Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, “the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, RSF expressed its indignation over the assassination of José Ramírez Puente, director of the news programme Juárez Hoy broadcast on Radio Net 1490 – a radio station based in Ciudad Juárez, in the northern State of Chihuahua. According to Robert Ménard, RSF’s secretary-general, “the assassination of José Ramírez Puente could be linked to his journalistic activities.” RSF requested that the official “use all his influence to ensure that the investigation of this killing can pinpoint the motives of the crime, and lead to the detention and conviction of the authors.” The organization also requested that the necessary steps be taken “with a view to guaranteeing the security of journalists” in the state.
According to the information collected by RSF, Ramírez Puente’s body was found on 28 April 2000 next to his car. The body was covered with thirty knife wounds and eight kilos of marijuana were found in the trunk of the car. According to his colleagues, Ramírez Puente’s integrity is not to be questioned, and it is suspected that the drugs could have been planted in the car. Neither the journalist nor the radio had received threats recently. In March, the journalist investigated a radio story on prostitution in Ciudad Juárez.
RSF notes that on 15 March 1993, Jessica Elizalde of Radio Central and FM 106 was killed in Ciudad Juárez, and that crime remains unpunished to this day. On 9 April 2000, Pablo Pineda, reporter and photographer for the newspaper “La Opinion”, published in Matamoros, (in the State of Tamaulipas – Northeast), was also found dead. The journalist had denounced the drug trafficking that was occurring in the region (see IFEX alerts of 18 and 11 April 2000).
For further information, contact Régis Bourgeat at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: ameriques@rsf.fr Internet: http://www.rsf.fr
