Nelson Matus, a Mexican journalist known for covering crime, was fatally shot in the parking lot of a store in Acapulco, DW reports referencing regional officials.
This incident marks the second killing of a working journalist in less than a week in Mexico, a country known for the high risks faced by members of the press. The journalist, who served as the director of the local news outlet Lo Real de Guerrero, was shot while entering his car in a thrift store parking lot. Police received a report of the incident and paramedics later confirmed Matus' death at the scene. The Attorney General's Office in the state of Guerrero has initiated an investigation for aggravated homicide.
Nelson Matus had a 15-year career in journalism, primarily focusing on reporting "red news," which covers crime, violence, and disasters in Mexico. His latest report, published on the day of his death, highlighted the discovery of human remains near a hotel in the city. The killings of Matus and Luis Martin Sanchez, a journalist for La Jornada, are part of an alarming trend of violence, kidnappings, and threats against journalists in Mexico.
Data presented by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) suggests that 150 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000, with 13 killings in 2022 alone, as reported by the government. Sanchez was one of three journalists abducted in Nayarit, with his body found bearing messages, while another journalist was recently abducted from his home in Xalisco. The third journalist was found alive. The leftist newspaper La Jornada previously lost two prominent reporters, Miroslava Breach, and Javier Valdez, within months of each other in 2017.
The Federation of Journalists of Acapulco and the Association of Police Information Reporters in Guerrero have condemned Matus' murder and called for a thorough investigation leading to the punishment of those responsible.
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