Mexican authorities have filed terrorism and organized crime charges against a local journalist over his work as a crime reporter. The arrest and prosecution sparked widespread condemnation from international press freedom organizations over the use of law enforcement against journalists who are uncomfortable with the political elite.
The incident began on Christmas Eve, when investigators with the Veracruz Attorney General’s Office, along with soldiers from Mexico’s Army, arrested Rafael Leon Segovia, who uses the pen name Lafita Leon, on terrorism charges. According to information released from Veracruz’s AG’s Office, Leon Segovia’s arrest came following an arrest warrant and remains in custody awaiting a hearing this weekend.
It remains unclear why authorities went after the journalist. Local journalists in Mexico claim that the charges came after he recorded a video of a car crash involving the daughter of a politically connected attorney in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. The case has sparked condemnation from the international press freedom organization Article 19.
In a statement from Article 19, the organization condemned the arrest, claiming that the journalist was being criminalized for his work as a crime reporter in the city of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz.
“The use of the penal system as reprisal for the labor carried out by journalists is an abuse and has no place in a democracy,” Article 19 claimed in their statement.
According to the press freedom organization, a similar case is unfolding in the state of Puebla, where Rodolfo Ruiz is being prosecuted on money-laundering charges as an intimidation tactic for his reporting that was highly critical of government corruption in that state.
The use of the judicial system to silence journalists in Mexico comes at a time when various press freedom groups continue to label that country as one of the most dangerous ones in the world for media workers over the high number of targeted murders in recent years. As Breitbart Texas has reported, most of those murders were attributed to either organized crime silencing investigations and reports of their violence or political figures trying to quiet critics.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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