Mexico: Yessenia Mollinedo Falconi, Sheila Johana García Shot Dead, Raising This Year’s Death Toll To 11
Location: Mexico, Heroica Veracruz
Date: May 11, 2022
Yessenia Mollinedo Falconi and Sheila Johana García Olivera, the director and a reporter of online news portal El Veraz, respectively, were shot dead outside a convenience store in broad daylight. Their killings bring this year’s death toll for journalists in Mexico, counted among the deadliest in the world for the press, to 11. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is appalled at the impunity with which violence against journalists has continued in the country. We mourn their loss and call on the authorities to immediately investigate the killings and their relation to the journalists’ work.
On May 9, at around 3pm, Yessenia and Sheila were sitting in a parked car outside a convenience store in Cosoleacaque, Veracruz, when unidentified assassins gunned them down. The town is about 350 miles east of the capital Mexico City, which saw several journalists’ killings earlier this year. Yessenia’s brother informed that she was being threatened over crime coverage on the news outlet.
Amid the uproar, the Veracruz State Prosecutor's Office announced on Twitter that the killings of the journalists are being investigated.
La Fiscalía General del Estado informa que se inició carpeta de investigación, ante los lamentables hechos en los que perdieran la vida la directora del portal El Veraz, Yessenia Mollinedo Falconi y la reportera Sheila Johana García Olivera, en el municipio de Cosoleacaque.
— FGE Veracruz (@FGE_Veracruz) May 9, 2022
La Fiscal General del Estado, Verónica Hernández Giadáns, asegura que no habrá impunidad; se agotarán todas las líneas de investigación, incluida su actividad periodística.
— FGE Veracruz (@FGE_Veracruz) May 9, 2022
Por convicción -o reputación- NO se puede tolerar que una democracia conviva con una carnicería de periodistas.
— Pedro Vaca V. (@PVacaV) May 9, 2022
State Prosecutor Verónica Hernández Giadáns also said the investigation will be exhaustive and will look at the journalists’ work as a possible cause behind their killing.
The news media community in the country has little faith in this process, however. The news of Yessenia and Sheila’s murders came days after killings comes days after the killing of another journalist, Luis Enrique Ramírez Ramos. His body was found near a dirt road in Sinaloa state capital, Culiacan. His body was wrapped in black plastic and with severe head wounds. Following his assassination, hundreds of journalists had gathered to protest the killings of journalists in the country. Protestors gathered in Mexico City at the Angel of Independence monument. Justice for eight other journalists killed earlier this year is yet to be served.
According to Yessenia’s brother, Ramiro Mollinedo Falconi, who is also a journalist, before she was gunned down, Yessenia had been receiving threatening calls from persons who asked her to remove crime-related news published on El Veraz. The slain journalist had recently begun increasing coverage of news related to Cosoleacaque city hall, he said.
On April 30, the journalist was leaving an event when she was followed by unidentified men in a car and on a motorcycle. “We know who you are,” they told her, said Ramiro. He added that a similar incident occured on May 4. Yessenia’s brother believes the two journalists’ killings were planned and part of organized crime.
Yessenia did not lodge a formal complaint about the threats with security officials or register with state or federal journalist protection programs, however. Ramiro explained that his sister believed these threats would subside on their own as had happened with her in the past. But, he said, while the family awaited the release of her body, some suspicious persons passed by on a motorcycle and in a car with tinted windows.
It is worth noting that among the journalists killed earlier this year, some like Lourdes Maldonado López, had indeed informed the authorities of threats received. Others were also enrolled in the federal protection programme. Yet, the state failed to take sufficient action and secure their lives.
The latest killings sparked outrage from international press freedom and human rights organizations as well. The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) condemned "the outrageous massacre" of journalists in Mexico and called on the international organizations to exert pressure on Mexican authorities for action against escalating violence.
Pedro Vaca, special rapporteur for freedom of expression in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, took to Twitter to condemn the killings. “By conviction - or reputation - it is NOT possible to tolerate that a democracy coexists with a carnage of journalists.”
Similar calls came from local journalistic bodies as well. Veracruz’s State Commission for Attention to and Protection of Journalists condemned the “attack on Veracruz's journalism profession” and said they had opened an investigation.
Earlier this year, the CFWIJ documented the killings of Lourdes and TV host Michelle Perez Tadeo in Mexico City. The former was shot dead on January 23 by assailants while she was in her car. Three suspects were later arrested but the investigation has seen little headway since then. A month later, on February 22, TV host Michelle, known as Michell Simon was found dead. A firefighter found her body wrapped in sheets in the south of the capital.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is horrified at the murders of Yessenia Mollinedo Falconi and Sheila Johana García Olivera. Their deaths and the loss of nine other journalists killed earlier this year are devastating for the local and global press community at large. We extend our deepest condolences to aggrieved families, friends and colleagues. The CFWIJ reiterates its call to the Mexican authorities for immediate measures to ensure protection of journalists in the country. The impunity with which violence against journalists is carried out is appalling and must end!
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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