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UNESCO chief deplores murder of two Mexican female journalists

Stop killing journalists.
UNESCO
Stop killing journalists.

UNESCO chief deplores murder of two Mexican female journalists

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with promoting press freedom has condemned the recent killing of two female community radio announcers, who were ambushed in a roadside attack in southeast Mexico that also left four others wounded.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with promoting press freedom has condemned the recent killing of two female community radio announcers, who were ambushed in a roadside attack in southeast Mexico that also left four others wounded.

Felicitas Martínez Sánchez, 21, and Teresa Bautista Merino, 24, were shot dead as they travelled along a highway in Oaxaca state on 7 April.

Expressing his outrage over the attack, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said that “killing journalists is a heinous crime which harms the whole of society as it undermines the democratic right of citizens to hold informed debate and make informed political choices.”

According to the Mexican National Center for Social Communication (CENCOS), the women were killed while on a reporting assignment for their community radio, La Voz que Rompe el Silencio.

Based in San Juan Copala, in Oaxaca, La Voz que Rompe el Silencio employs young adults and teenagers from the Triqui indigenous community.