Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — The body of a Playa del Carmen journalist was found laying next to his motorcycle Thursday morning outside a bar in the Ejidal neighborhood.
State police have confirmed the death of Francisco Romero Díaz, a reporter from Acceder Aquí. His body was discovered outside a bar along Avenue 110. He had been shot twice in the head.
The municipal president of Solidaridad, Laura Beristain condemned the death of Romero Díaz and offered support to his family.
“I am a person who has always fought for the free expression of ideas and dialogue, for the construction of a democratic society where citizens feel heard,” she said.
She confirmed that in her government “free expression is guaranteed. In Solidaridad there is no censorship and we work with the media and in the same way with civil organizations, the private sector and the academic sector, with the general public,” she added.
The State Commission of Human Rights in Quintana Roo also condemned the murder and urged the State Attorney General to consider the journalist’s work as a motive for his death.
“This state agency makes a respectful call to the state authorities to protect the physical and emotional integrity of the relatives of the deceased and urges the FGE to consider, in the lines of investigation of this crime, his work as a journalist,” they said in a statement.
La Fiscalía General del Estado, through its social communication office, also issued a statement in which it reported that they have “initiated an investigation with respect to the murder of journalist Francisco Romero Díaz, who was found dead outside of a bar on the outskirts of Playa del Carmen.”
They added that the discovery of the body was made via an Emergency 911 call, where in the early morning hours of Thursday, the body of a male person was found at 25 south street between 110 and Arco Vial in the Forjadores neighborhood.
They confirmed that the victim had filed a complaint on April 12 for the crime of threats, which was heard by the State’s Attorney General’s Office and the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Attention of Crimes Committed against Freedom of Expression of the now General Prosecutor of the Republic.
From this, Romero Díaz was reportedly under protection, but had dismissed his escorts earlier that evening.
Romero Díaz reported mostly on police events in and around Playa del Carmen on the Facebook page Ocurrió Aquí (It Happened Here).
