MEXICO, Papantla, April 9, 2020 -- After receiving death threats for her reporting on sensitive issues for years, journalist Maria Elena Ferral Hernández was shot dead in broad daylight on March 30.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is devastated and demands justice for Maria. We urge Mexican authorities to conduct a fair investigation into her murder. It is appalling to see how press freedom continues to be a luxury for Mexican journalists, who get killed for doing their job and remain vulnerable to threats round the clock.

Maria was targeted by two hooded men on a motorbike in the municipality of Papantla in the state of Veracruz, while she was leaving a notary’s appointment. Maria was then rushed to the hospital where she succumbed to her injuries hours later. Her murderers flee the scene immediately.

Maria - a reporter for the Veracruz newspaper El Diario de Xalapa - was known for her investigations on crime, corruption and the police. She was also the founder of news website Quinto Poder de Veracruz with her work focused on sensitive issues.

On March 12, just 18 days before the murder, she wrote a column for La Polaca Totonaca titled ‘The Power Struggle’ focused on the murders of four politicians who wanted to occupy the municipal presidency of Gutiérrez Zamora. Even though the motive behind her murder remains murky, it is being alleged that Maria could be killed as a result of her reporting for the column. No arrests have been made so far and the murderers remain at large with impunity.

This was not the first time Maria was threatened to be killed. In 2016, she received threats from a local political candidate from Veracruz. In a video Maria mentioned the name of Camerino Basilio Picazo Pérez, former mayor of Coyutla as the person who was sending her death threats.

This was not it, as Maria continued to be threatened and harassed by local politicians and also sought protection from the state commission for protecting journalists. The bodyguards assigned to Maria were later said to be withdrawn by the government. The 50-year-old journalist continued to work as a journalist, despite being aware of the grave threats to her life.

Maria is the second woman journalist to be killed in Mexico this year. A radio journalist named Teresa Aracely Alcocer was also shot dead in February outside her home in Ciudad Juarez. Her murderers are yet to be brought to justice.

Mexico is one of the world’s worst countries for journalists where the level of impunity of their murders is over 97 per cent. Following the authorities’ lack of seriousness with respect to punishing their perpetrators, journalists remain vulnerable to threats. Nothing is being done to protect journalists, who put themself in danger to inform their public. The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands swift action by authorities in Mexico. We urge them to find her murderers and punish them immediately.