Mexican journalist José Castillo found dead at his home in Sonora

Journalist José Castillo

who was 55 years old and owned the digital outlet Prioridad Máxima was murdered on Thursday in Ciudad Obregón ; he was also a police officer for several years.

He mainly covered security news and had spent some 25 years working as a reporter in different media outlets.

According to different versions, José Castillo’s body had sharp force trauma and was beaten . His body was left on the sidewalk outside his home at the El Campanario neighborhood .

He was found by officers of the municipal police after neighbors reported the body on the sidewalk. Red Cross paramedics went to the location and did not detect vital signs.

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Experts from the Sonora’s State Attorney General’s Office (FGJE) were in charge of processing the crime scene.

The FGJE opened an investigation file to shed light on the events and search for those who committed the crime . So far, it is interviewing possible witnesses and collecting evidence .

The expert’s report showed the journalist was wounded in his bathroom, where many bloodstains were documents, as well as evidence that he left his house looking for help, falling at the front, where he died.

Doors and windows show no evidence of violence .

Cajeme journalists wrote a manifest in which they complain to the government about the rise in violence in the municipality which as affected them with threats and murders.

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Ramón Eduardo Flores López

, the Sonora coordinator of the National Union of Newspaper Publishers (SNRP) , said that in addition to demand justice to the FGJE to prevent this crime from going unpunished, international organizations will be notified.

As a member of the Federation of Journalists from Latin America and the Caribbean (FEPALC) and of the International Federation of Journalists (FIP) , he asked international organizations to urge the UN to stop crimes against journalists in Mexico.

Mexico

is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, as said Florez López by remembering that there have been several unpunished attacks against journalists in Cajeme.

According to the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice , Cajeme is the fifth most dangerous city in the world.

On May 16, Jorge Armenta Ávalos was murdered when he left a restaurant; a bodyguard that was with him died too.

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On May 27, journalist Marco Antonio Duarte Vargas , owner of Ciudad Obregón Sin Censura , was the victim of an attack when a Molotov cocktail was thrown against his vehicle.

On June 2, Ariel Amparán Figueroa , head of the digital media outlet El Sisañozo , reported an attack against him for covering aggressions against a Cajeme journalist.

Jorge Armenta’s murder, as well as the threats against Ariel Amparán and Marco Antonio Duarte, are evidence of the environment of insecurity and violence experienced by journalists in Cajeme, Sonora related to censorship .

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