INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
This year will be the deadliest on record for journalists in Mexico, with 18 killed so far, human rights organization Article 19 said in a
report Thursday, Reuters reported.Of the 18 deaths, Article 19 had identified a potential link to their work in nine cases so far, the
organization&s regional director Leopoldo Maldonado told Reuters.2022 could be the worst year in a century for the press,& Maldonado said.In
a little over eight months, the death toll for 2022 has already outpaced the 13 murders recorded last year and the 14 recorded in 2020
Article 19 found the deaths were linked to the victims& profession in about half of the cases in 2021 and 2020, it said.Meanwhile, the
organization has documented a total of 331 attacks against journalists in the first half of the year, most of which involve intimidation and
Some also received threats, while a handful of cases involved the alleged abuse use of public power.That marks a 51.83% increase compared to
the first half of 2018, when former President Enrique Pena Nieto was in power, it said.According to Reuters in addition, Article 19 said
four journalists had been forcibly displaced within the country while two went into exile in the first half of the year.The role that the
authorities have in the violence against the press clearly reflects a breach of the state&s obligations to guarantee the rights and
integrity of journalists and the media,& the report added.Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said repeatedly that his
government does not attack the press and that recent murders were by criminal groups, read the report.Article 19 alleged the state was
behind most attacks on the press, with 128 cases recorded in the first half
This is &a trend that has been consistent since 2007,& the group said.The post Mexico records deadliest year yet for journalists, with 18
murders so far first appeared on Ariana News.
