(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is deeply concerned over the killing of Mario Medina Vázquez, whom police had charged with the 19 March 2004 murder of journalist Roberto Javier Mora García. The suspect, who had been held since 28 March, was stabbed by a fellow prisoner in jail. In a letter to Tamaulipas State Attorney General Ramón […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is deeply concerned over the killing of Mario Medina Vázquez, whom police had charged with the 19 March 2004 murder of journalist Roberto Javier Mora García. The suspect, who had been held since 28 March, was stabbed by a fellow prisoner in jail.
In a letter to Tamaulipas State Attorney General Ramón Duron Ruiz, the organisation said, “We call on you to do everything possible to investigate the circumstances of Mario Medina Vázquez’s death and the motive for the murder. In particular, the investigation should determine whether this was an ordinary crime or a deliberate act linked to the Roberto Javier Mora García case. The authorities should also explain why Medina Vázquez, a US national, was not placed in a high security wing as the US consulate had requested.”
“This murder casts a new shadow on the investigation into Roberto Javier Mora García’s murder. Medina Vázquez was imprisoned after having confessed. He later said he had been tortured. Police said it was a crime of passion. Since Roberto Javier Mora García, who was the editorial director of the local daily ‘El Mañana’, had previously exposed drug trafficking in the region on several occasions, we urge you not to rule out the possibility that he was murdered because of his work,” RSF added.
On 13 May, Medina Vázquez was stabbed about 30 times by Roberto Herrera González, using a weapon that Herrera González made himself. The murder took place in Cereso II prison, in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas state. Herrera González first claimed that he killed the journalist because he had wrongly accused him of a crime, but later changed his story. Herrera González is imprisoned for two murders and drug possession.
On 17 May, the US authorities demanded an investigation into Medina Vázquez’s death and protested the failure to implement the safety precautions requested by the US consulate. Former Tamaulipas state attorney general Francisco Cayuela submitted his resignation to the governor and was immediately replaced. In its 18 May online edition, “El Mañana” reported that Hiram Oliveros Ortiz, the second murder suspect in the Mora García case, has been put under round-the-clock surveillance in a special wing of the prison.
