Verónica Basurto

Covering police investigations is undoubtedly one of the most important activities carried out by journalists in Mexico. Verónica Basurto, a freelance working in Mexico City, took on the task of shedding light on several cases of corruption and impunity. Working with French journalist Laurence Cuvillier of the TV news channel France24 , she looked into the case of Hugo Alberto Wallace, who was murdered in 2005, and the abduction of a French citizen, Florence Cassez. She was repeatedly threatened by members of organized crime gangs and also had to do battle with a hostile justice system. A climate of tension forced her to move house regularly before finally going abroad. Her year’s exile in Spain is a clear indictment of the failings of the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists created by the Mexican government in October 2012. Nonetheless, Basurto decided to return home and continue her investigative work.