Over the past 10 years, at least 82 journalists have been killed in Mexico for exercising their profession. Miroslava Breach was one of them.

At 7 a.m. on March 23, 2017, Miroslava Breach, a well-known journalist in Mexico, got in her car outside her home in Chihuahua City in Northern Mexico, to drive her 14-year-old son to school. A man appeared – his face hidden by a hat – and opened fire. The journalist did not survive the attack.

Breach was known for her exemplary and fearless investigative work. She worked for the newspapers La Jornada and El Norte de Ciudad Juarez, reporting on organized crime and corrupt local authorities in Chihuahua, her native state which also happens to be one of the most violent in the country. During the last months of her life, she devoted her work to “narco-politicians,” members of drug cartels who have infiltrated the country’s political sphere to consolidate their control.

More than two years after the murder, investigations by both local and federal authorities have left many loose ends. None of them have established any link between this murder and climinal groups or politicians despite Miroslava’s investigations on the subject, and despite the threats she had received from them.

This is why the Mexican journalists grouped in El Colectivo 23 de marzo, in collaboration with international jouranlists from Forbidden Stories, Bellingcat andthe Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) joined forces to investigate under the name “Project Miroslava.” 

The collective behind "Project Miroslava" :

For several months, El Colectivo 23 de marzo, a collective of Mexican journalists, has been working on the murder of Miroslava Breach and the authorities’ inaction. Forbidden Stories, Bellingcat and the Latin American Centre for Journalistic Investigation have joined the project to end impunity. Visit the collective’s website to discover their entire investigation in English and Spanish:

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They support us

Maria Ressa

2021 Nobel Peace Prize

“All they want in killing a journalist, or in attacking a journalist, is to stop the story.”

Can Dündar

Former editor of the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet

It will send a very clear message to oppressive governments that if they touch a journalist anywhere in the world, many others will be ready to support and follow up their story.”

Khadija Ismayilova

Azerbajani investigative journalist

“What you are suggesting is creating a newsroom for journalists who have no press freedom. You will get fantastic stories.

Matthew Caruana Galizia

Maltese journalist, son of slain reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia

“We couldn’t allow our mother’s stories to die with her. They were too important. For them to be forgotten would have been like killing her twice.

Fabrice Arfi

Mediapart‘s head of investigations

The finest project of investigative journalism, in solidarity against censorship.

Sandhya Ravishankar

Indian journalist

“Now I know that Forbidden Stories will always have my back.”

Bastian Obermayer

2017 Pulitzer Prize winner

“Even if Forbidden Stories rescues just a handful of investigations that fall into a sort of limbo each time a journalist is jailed or killed, it will already be a great victory for citizens.”

Marina Walker

Executive editor at Pulitzer Center

“By working together, journalists can make it harder for censorship to win. We’re proud to support Forbidden Stories.”

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