Brad Will shot at close range, says investigation

Brad Will shot at close range, says investigation

November 4th, 2007 · No Comments

The one-year anniversary of the death of Brad Will will be marked today in New York, Oaxaca and no doubt other places around the world.Brad Will was shot by an assailant (s) just 50 centimeters away, and not from a distance of 30 meters as originally thought, according to the latest findings of the investigation of the Attorney General on the case in Mexico.

Results from the investigation into the death of the American IndyMedia journalist, shot dead in Oaxaca just over a year ago, suggest that he could have been killed by fellow protesters or members of the People’s Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO), as well as government agents or infiltrators, according to newspaper reports in Mexico last week.

The finding that he was shot at such close range contrasts with past reports on the murder of the media worker, which placed his assassins at more than 30 meters from him, and also goes against evidence and reports that suggest that Will was in fact murdered by Government sympathisers or agents.

“Despite having evidence of who or who might be the murderers of the American shot dead on 27 October 2006 in the village of Santa Lucia del Camino, Oaxaca, the federal agency still has not established clearly whether the killers belong to the People’s Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), or a group that could be linked to the state government, or whether they were infiltrators”,” reads the report in Thursday’s Milenio.

The newspaper report also noted that the Special Prosecutors Office for Crimes Against Journalists is very close to ‘solving the crime’.

These findings will dismay groups lobbying for justice in the case of Brad Will, such as The Friends of Brad Will and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Although two suspects were arrested late last year following the shooting of the journalist, they were soon released without charge. A number of NGO’s, including Reporters Without Borders, expressed concern at the release of Abel Santiago Zárate, the official in charge of public security in Santa Lucia del Camino (in Oaxaca state), and his bodyguard, Orlando Manuel Aguilar Coello, both of whom were arrested on suspicion of firing the shots that killed Will.