Paris, October 29 (RHC-UNNS) -- The head of the United Nations agency mandated to defend press freedom has denounced the recent killing of Mexican journalist and editor of a local magazine in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and urged authorities to conduct a quick and thorough investigation into the murder.

“I condemn the killing of Antonio Gamboa Urias,” Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said in a statement to the press.

“It is important that efforts to shed light on this crime proceed swiftly and unhindered. Guns must not be allowed to silence journalists and deprive people of their right to obtain the information they need from a wide range of sources.”

Gamboa Urias, editor of Nueva Prensa, a local magazine published in the coastal city of Los Mochis, was abducted on October 10th. His half-buried and bullet-riddled body was found 13 days later.

The Mexican state of Sinaloa has witnessed a deteriorating security situation amid an ongoing power struggle between regional drugs cartels in which numerous journalists have lost their lives.
According to media reports, another journalist, radio broadcaster Atilano Román Tirado, was killed the day after Gamboa Urias’ abduction while he was broadcasting live on-air.

In a report released in March, UNESCO stressed the growing trend of media workers being killed around the world. Focusing on the latest challenges affecting media development and freedom of expression, the report, called “World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development,” notes that more than 430 journalists were killed between 2007 and 2012.