Abducted Journalist Found Alive In Mexico

Mexico City, April 5 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Apr, 2023 ) :A journalist who was kidnapped in Mexico was found alive by authorities on Tuesday, the country's official organization for the protection of journalists said.

"Reporter Ricardo Villanueva Ake, who had been illegally deprived of his freedom on Monday, was found alive," the State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP) said in a statement.

CEAPP did not specify where he was found or his condition, but said arrests were made during the operation.

Villanueva was repairing his motorbike on Monday afternoon in the eastern city of Poza Rica when "hooded subjects with long guns" grabbed him, reported the Presente news site, where he covered police affairs, referring to him as Richard Villa.

Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world to work as a journalist, with more than 150 killed there since 2000, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Last year was one of the most violent on record, with 12 reporters murdered and 696 attacks made against the press, rights organization Article 19 said last week.

About 43 percent of documented attacks against journalists were "perpetrated directly by state actors," the organization said.