Public apology to Yucatecan journalist sets historic precedent

In an event that marks a state historic precedent in relation to the defense of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, William Gerardo Angulo Miam offered a public apology to Yucatecan journalist Bartolomé Canché Pech, from the newspaper De Peso, who he death threatened for publishing editorial pieces criticizing the performance of the City Council of Seyé.

In July 2019, Angulo Miam initiated a series of threats against the reporter when, through a comment on a post made by the journalist on his Facebook account, he replied saying “You’re going to get yourself killed one of these days“.

Canché Pech denounced the threats to the Attorney General’s Office that attracted the case, achieving the connection of the accused to a process that led to criminal case 75/2020, being that by law the accused availed himself of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism in Criminal matters.

Canché Pech agreed to participate in this legal mechanism and as part of the repair of the damage by the accused it was agreed that he would make a public apology, which was carried out on Sunday, January 18th, at the Linces de Seyé sports field, a municipality located about 60 kilometers away from Merida, in the central part of the State.

The process that was described as a watershed in terms of the defense of journalists accompanied the Human Rights Defender Group Indignation and the International Organization Article 19.

For his part, the journalist said he was satisfied with the apology and stressed the importance of adhering to the law, and to make always law prevail.