Oaxaca church official condemns fatal shootings of local journalists

Published: 2008-04-11

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- A church official in Mexico's poor southern state of Oaxaca condemned the fatal shootings of two Triqui Indian community radio announcers, saying it was a crime of repression against independent media operators. Father Leoncio Hernandez of the Santiago Apoala parish said the slayings appeared to be a deliberate attempt to silence those who spoke out against injustice. "It is a slaying of two people who are spreading the truth in their communities," Father Hernandez told Catholic News Service. "The people behind this are those who are scared of the truth." Father Hernandez, an outspoken supporter of human rights in Oaxaca, said the attack could be the work of gunmen working for the state government, and he urged a federal investigation into the incident. Murder is normally a state crime in Mexico. Radio announcers Teresa Bautista, 24, and Felicitas Martinez, 20, were ambushed and killed as they traveled in a truck from San Juan Copala to the Oaxacan state capital for a forum on human rights, state police said.

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