Mexico Authorities Investigate Radio Host's Murder

Mexico City, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Feb, 2022 ) :Mexican authorities said Friday that they were investigating the murder of a radio host inside a gym in the northwestern state of Sonora.

Eight bullet casings were found at the scene of Thursday's attack on Jorge Luis Camero, who until this month had worked as a local official, the Sonora prosecutor's office said.

It said that Camero had requested leave from his job at city hall on February 9 after he was accused of criminal ties in a video circulating on social media.

The allegations were the subject of a murder investigation, the prosecutor's office said, adding that it had not yet been able to confirm that Camero also ran a news portal on Facebook.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that it was looking into the case, calling for a thorough investigation by prosecutors.

Around 150 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 2000, and only a fraction of the crimes have resulted in convictions, according to RSF.

At least five journalists have been murdered already in 2022 in what is one of the world's most dangerous countries for media workers.

The government announced Friday that five suspects had been arrested over the murder of photojournalist Margarito Martinez on January 17 in the northern border city of Tijuana.

They were caught in possession of weapons and drugs, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval told reporters.

On Tuesday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced concern about the string of killings, calling for "greater accountability and protections for Mexican journalists."President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador described the top US diplomat's remarks as "interfering" and said that he appeared to have been "misinformed."