Mexico City, July 31 (IANS/EFE): A Mexican journalist was found stabbed to death in his home in the town of Guadalupe in the country's north central Zacatecas, sources said Thursday.
Journalist Nolberto Herrera Rodríguez was found dead in his home Wednesday with more than 20 stab wounds, a spokesperson for Article 19, an international organisation defending freedom of expression, told Efe news agency.
Herrera Rodríguez served as a cameraman, reporter and editor on Zacatecas's Channel 9 television and other media, and as well as in the public sector.
The office of the attorney in Zacatecas said his murder could have been a crime of passion, although other motives could not be ruled out, Alfredo Valadez Rodriguez, Channel 9 news director, said.
Article 19 has called on authorities "to conduct a proper investigation to punish those responsible and break the cycle of impunity which creates a chilling effect on the exercise of journalism", the organisation said in a statement.
"It is necessary that authorities in Zacatecas provide security to journalists in the region and establish a public policy of prevention to ensure the exercise of the right to freedom of expression," it added.
Rodríguez said Herrera was "hard working" and "a very active person", who produced news reports and wrote on culture and news in general.
The special prosecutor for crimes against freedom of expression of the Mexican federal government last June issued a report saying that since the year 2000, 102 journalists in Mexico had been murdered.
Ten of the murders occurred at the start of President Enrique Peña Nieto's administration in December 2012.