A group of journalists from Campeche took to the streets on Tuesday to protest against what they described as “judicial harassment” by a local judge, who has barred one journalist from practicing his profession and shut down a newspaper for two years.
The protesters, carrying banners that read “Stop judicial harassment against journalists”, marched towards the Government Palace and the State Congress in Campeche City. They were expressing their discontent with Judge Guadalupe Martínez Taboada’s decision to prosecute journalist Jorge González Valdez for alleged crimes of inciting hatred and violence.
The protesters, including members of various national and international journalist groups such as Reporters Without Borders and Article 19, gathered outside the State Palace for a sit-in. González Valdez addressed the crowd, thanking them for their solidarity and condemning the judge’s decision against freedom of expression.
Critics also targeted Governor Carlos Sansores San Román, who they accused of attempting to censor journalistic criticism and ordering the closure of a media outlet that employed several people. Enrique Cruz Carranza, representative of the Journalists’ Club, condemned the governor’s “authoritarian attitude” in criminalizing the practice of journalism and considering criticism of public servants as incitement to hatred and violence.
Other journalists who have faced judicial harassment and attacks accused the governor of trying to silence criticism and censor the media. Abraham Martínez and Luis Armando Mendoza, who are also facing prosecution, claimed that the governor’s actions had created a risk for journalists in Campeche due to his obsession with silencing them.
Source: La Jornada
