UNESCO chief speaks out against shooting of Mexican journalist

The head of the United Nations agency championing press freedom today condemned the latest murder of a Mexican journalist, the fifth such killing of a media professional in the country this year.

Ernesto Montañez Valdivia, editor of the Enfoque magazine of the El Sol de Chihuahua newspaper, was shot dead while riding a pickup truck driven by his teenage son, who was also seriously injured in the 14 July attack.

“Attacks on journalists threaten respect for the fundamental human right of freedom of expression,” Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of the UN Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a statement.

“The media have an important contribution to make to democracy and rule of law and I urge the authorities to do all they can to find the culprits of crimes against media professionals in the interest of the whole of Mexican society,” added Mr. Matsuura.

Dozens of journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, according to the non-governmental organization Inter American Press Association (IAPA).