Declaration about murder of journalist Maria Elena Ferral Hernández
The World Association of Journalists and Writers (AMMPE), an organization that groups women from 37 countries around the world, expresses its strongest condemnation for the vile murder of journalist Maria Elena Ferral Hernández, National Giornalism Prize 2005, correspondent for the Diario de Xalapa and the Heraldo de Poza Rica, perpetrated in Papantla, Veracruz (Mexico) last Monday, March 30.
Our colleague was always a tenacious defender of human rights and was aware of the arrests and forced disappearances in the police hands, for which she had received numerous death threats that she had denounced, but which, evidently, were not taken in seriously by the Mexican authorities.
We also express our sincere condolences and deep solidarity to Maria Elena’s family and colleagues. Her murder once again demonstrates the worrying degree of violence and intimidation that many journalists in Mexico face in carrying out their work.
For AMMPE, Mexico is a special country, because our organization was founded in Mexico in 1969 by the distinguished writer and journalist Gloria Salas de Calderón. In this sense, we feel obliged to urge the Mexican authorities not to relinquish their responsibility to investigate and identify the material and intellectual responsibles for this cowardly murder and to apply transparently and without hesitation the sanctions to all those who are involved.
Patricia Mayorga
AMMPE President
Rome, April 4, 2020
