31 May 2017•Update: 31 May 2017
By Nancy Caouette
MEXICO CITY
Dozens of journalists and photographers gathered Tuesday night in Mexico City to ask for justice for all reporters who were killed or went missing in the country.
The protesters sat in front of the Angel of Independence, a victory column in the heart of Mexico City, shouting "No to silence".
"This protest is a punctual condemnation of governments that are unable to provide security or confidence, not only to journalists, but to the Mexicans in general," Julio Hernandez, a columnist for the local newspaper La Jornada, said in a speech.
Many demonstrators were holding a picture of Javier Valdez, a renowned Mexican crime reporter who was killed on May 15. Mexican authorities are still investigating the murder.
The death of the veteran reporter -- who was the sixth journalist to be killed this year in Mexico -- upset the media community.
Last week, 186 journalists from 69 foreign media outlets condemned Valdez’s murder in a note that circulated online.
“A real and determined commitment against impunity and for the protection of journalists is indispensable to convert the murder of Javier Valdez into a watershed that puts an end to attacks against the press, a fundamental bulwark of any democracy," the note said.
At least 40 journalists have been murdered in Mexico for reasons linked to their jobs in the last 25 years, while 50 others have been killed under disputed circumstances, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
Mexico ranks third in the world for the number of journalists killed, behind only Syria and Afghanistan, the media right group Reporters Without Borders said.
