A Mexican photojournalist has been killed after taking pictures of dead bodies on the side of the road, the ninth death toll for Mexican journalists this year.
According to media reports, Jaime Castano became Zakarias on Wednesday morning after a clash between drug cartels in the city of Jerez, with his hands on the bodies in the northern Zakatex state.
When Castano left the scene on a motorcycle, he was chased by gunmen, who shot and killed him. The Zacktex reported online report said that when police arrived, they found that memory cards with images of the crime scene had been removed from Castano’s camera.
The killing of Castano on Wednesday in Mexico, the world’s deadliest country for journalists in 2020, underlined the dangers of reporting grief and reporting.
Mexico tops the list of countries with the highest number of journalists killed in the last five years, according to figures from the International Federation of Journalists.
At least 119 people have been killed in Mexico since 2000, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Annoying checks are often common, as in most cases exemption is granted. Police forces, prosecutor’s offices and some politicians, meanwhile, are sometimes intimidated by criminal organizations or accused of joining them.
The prosecutor’s office in the state of Zacatecas has not commented on Castano’s death, although sources told the newspaper Al Universal that they were investigating the involvement of organized crime. Parts of the state have been turned into battlefields of the cartel due to disputes over drug-carrying territories in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel Zacatecas.
Covering crime scenes in Mexico can be particularly dangerous: Journalist Israel Vazquez was assassinated last month when he suggested that body parts in plastic bags were dumped in the rough neighborhood of the western state of Guanajuato.
According to press reports, Castઓo covered the municipal government government event on the morning of his death and headed for the town hall when he was confronted by the bodies.
Castao worked as a photographer for the Jerez municipal government and part-time Moonlight as a journalist, retaining the news site Prinslabrex. PrensaLibreMx does not have a department dedicated to police or crime coverage.
