Mexican court sentences four for violence against journalists

Four people have been sentenced to terms ranging from three to nine years in prison by a judge in a northern Mexican state after being found guilty of the assault and robbery of three journalists from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.

Jaime Murrieta Briones, a photographer for “El Diario” newspaper, and Aurelio Suárez Núñez and Eugenia Cícero Rivera, reporters for the “PM” evening newspaper, were fired upon after having photographed individuals presumed to be agents of a government ministry drinking and disturbing the peace on the street, along with other individuals on the 5th of September this year, according to a report issued today from the Centre for Journalism and Public Ethics in Mexico.

The National Human Rights Commission in Mexico determined that the police had violated the journalists’ right to freedom of expression as well as the justice system’s own legality and security, sent a recommendation to Chihuahua Governor José Reyes Baeza Terrazas.

According to sources, “Rubén Antonio Martínez Olivares, alias “El Muletas”, and Ricardo Barrios Simental, alias “El Topo”, each received terms of eight years and eight months, while Carlos Alberto Fernández Luna, “El Papo”, was sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison. These three were found guilty of aggravated robbery, damages, injuries and possession of a weapon the use of which is restricted to members of the Army.”

See the CEPET statement here.