Mexican journalist Fredid Roman killed hours after story about 43 students who vanished

A journalist has been killed just hours after he published a story about a mass abduction that has gripped Mexico for years.

A journalist was shot dead in southern Mexico shortly after posting a story about the disappearance and suspected murder of 43 students.

Fredid Roman, who published his work on various social media pages and contributed to a local newspaper, was found dead in his car in the city of Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero state, the local prosecutor’s office said Monday evening.

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Fredid Roman was killed after publishing a story about 43 students who vanished. Picture: Twitter

2014 Iguala mass kidnapping

The case of the 43 students from Guerrero, who went missing after commandeering two buses to attend a protest, is considered one of the worst human rights disasters in Mexican history.

In 2014, students from a teacher’s college in Guerrero seized two buses and set off to stage a protest in Iguala.

Police tried to stop the buses by using roadblocks and firing weapons. What happened next is murky. A later government investigation found 43 of the students were forcibly abducted, handed over to members of a local drug cartel and likely killed.

Policewomen from Mexico City guard the march to mark the anniversary of the forced disappearance of the 43 students in Mexico. Picture: Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Murillo Karam, who headed the initial probe, said in 2015 that the students were killed by drug gang Guerreros Unidos and their bodies were burned at a dump in Cocula.

But experts have disputed that version of events. It’s thought the students may have accidentally stolen buses loaded with money or drugs destined for the United States.

The previous administration of Enrique Peña Nieto has been accused of covering-up the crime.

The kidnappings and murders triggered widespread protests in Mexico as well as international condemnation.

100,000 people have vanished in Mexico

The problem of missing people in Mexico is continuing to grow. It’s thought than 100,000 people have vanished since President Felipe Calderón declared a war on drug cartels in 2006.

Drug gangs, the military and corrupt officials have played a role in the disappearances.

The Iguala case was forced back into the spotlight last week when a truth commission branded the atrocity a “state crime” that involved agents of various institutions.

A policeman stands guard near the wake of the murdered journalist Fredid Roman in Chilpancingo, state of Guerrero, Mexico. Picture: Jesus Geurrero/AFP

Journalist publishes story about the students

A few hours before his death, Roman published a long Facebook post titled “State Crime Without Charging the Boss,” in which he mentioned an alleged meeting between four officials at the time of the students’ disappearance, including former attorney general Jesus Murillo Karam.

Murillo Karam was arrested after the publication of the truth commission report last week, while dozens of warrants were issued for suspects including military personnel, police officers and cartel members.

Portraits of murdered journalists are seen pasted on the doors of the Attorney General of the Republic during a demonstration held by Mexican journalists. Picture: Pedro Pardo/AFP

It was not immediately clear if Roman’s recent post on the missing students or his other journalistic work played a role in his death.

Jan-Albert Hootsen, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Mexico representative, said: “The brutal killing of Fredid Roman underscores the Mexican government’s utter failure to make the country safe for reporters.

“Only by apprehending Roman’s attackers and determining whether he was killed because of his work can Mexican authorities regain some of the trust this year’s catastrophic series of deadly attacks has eroded almost completely.”

Twelve journalists have been killed in Mexico so far this year, according to the government, while the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) lists nine. Some media outlets have put the figure at 15 or 16.

With about 150 journalists murdered since 2000, according to RSF, Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for the press.

Most of those murders remain unpunished.

- with AFP