Alberto López Bello

Cristián Alberto López Bello (c. 1985 – 17 July 2013) was a crime journalist for the Mexican newspaper El Imparcial and the radio show "Foro Político", in Oaxaca, Mexico. The murder of López was an early case that tested the new powers of federal special prosecutors to investigate crimes against Mexican journalists and freedom of expression. The federal special prosecutor, however, deferred to the Attorney General of Oaxaca, who said three and a half months after the López murder that the motive was a bar fight, announced the arrest of four people, and then resigned the next day. The family publicly disagreed with the official conclusion.

Personal

Alberto López Bello was the son of former newspaper journalist Alberto López Cruz, who worked for Noticias y Extra de Oaxaca. He was 28 years old at the time of his murder and himself a father of three children. His funeral mass was conducted at the San Felipe Neri Catholic church. He was laid to rest at Panteón General in Oaxaca. The bodies of journalist Alberto López Bello and police intelligence officer Arturo Alejandro Franco Rojas were discovered around 7:00 a.m., Wednesday, 17 July 2013 on Sabino Street in the area of Los Humedales (or La Humedad) in the city of Trinidad de Viguera south of Oaxaca. The officer was later identified as an informant of the Commissioner of Security Public and Municipal Transit. López had written about the drug trade before his murder. The state police reported that it had briefly detained López and a professional colleague May 18 after discovering them taking photographs of a message on a blanket left by a drug cartel but released them after checking their press credentials. Many press freedom organizations suspected that López's murder was related to drug cartel violence, however, experts on drug violence were said that the cartels typically leave their sign or message near the bodies and that was not the case in this double murder. Early in the investigations authorities said they did not know of any connection between the policeman and the journalist.

Investigation

Governor Gabino Cue Monteagudo requested that the investigation be sent to the Special Bureau of Attention to Journalists as a "high impact" case under the new laws. Oaxacan city officials swiftly handed the case over to the federal level in hopes of implementing the new laws of allowing more authority to prosecutors in cases against journalist.

The Oaxaca office of the Attorney General released its report 6 November 2013. The report concluded López and the police officer had been killed over a bar room fight and the motive was not related to journalism. The Attorney General announced the arrest of Julián Ramírez Benítez, Gerardo García Flores, Rafael Martínez González and Aldo José Luis Tenorio Benítez and two others connected to organized crime. The special prosecutor's office deferred to the state's report. Alberto López Bello's family disputed the Attorney General's conclusion, pointed to faults in the investigation, and charged the government was protecting López's murderers. Two others Mexican journalists were killed in 2013 before Alberto López Bello. Over the past decade, press freedom and human rights organizations had monitored the killing or forced disappearance of between 88 and 84 Mexican journalists at the time of López's murder, while the Committee to Protect Journalists had confirmed 57 and four of those during President Enrique Peña Nieto's term. The first journalist covered by the law was Mario Chávez Jorge who disappeared 24 May 2012 and whose body was discovered 10 June 2012.

Reactions

After the murder of Alberto López Bello, the United Nations, international and regional press freedom NGOs and his newspaper demanded an investigation that would lead to prosecution. El Imparcial released the following statement, "We urge the authorities to investigate as soon as possible this crime, which demonstrates the vulnerability journalists face daily in their work to provide accurate and timely information to citizens." Reporters Without Borders said, "We pay tribute to López, whose death is another reminder of the dangers to which reporters and news media are exposed when they try to cover sensitive subjects such as drug trafficking. We also salute the courage of the management of López’s newspaper, who have said they are determined to continue providing news and information, despite the acts of intimidation and the tragedies they frequently encounter."