29, Mar 2018 | CJP Team

Two police officers in Mexico have been found guilty and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for the murder of journalist Moisés Sánchez, an uncommon instance for Mexico, where crimes against members of the media largely go unpunished, the Guardian reported. Sánchez was killed in the violence-ridden state of Veracruz, considered the most dangerous area for journalists in entire hemisphere. The two officers have also been ordered to pay compensation worth $18,000, a statement from the Veracruz prosecutor’s office said. Press freedom activists and Sánchez’s family members say the convictions are not enough; the local mayor, who is alleged to have ordered the killing, is still at large, and six other police officers, who are alleged to have set up a drug gang and carrying out the mayor’s orders have not been put on trial. At the beginning of the investigation into the killing, state prosecutors detained 36 police officers, the entire force in Veracruz’s Medellín de Bravo. Sánchez reportedly sparked the mayor’s ire by reporting on the deficient municipal services and divulging that citizens had created vigilante groups to tackle widespread insecurity. As of March 22, Mexico has seen three killings of journalists. In 2017, 12 journalists were killed in the country, four in the state of Veracruz.