El Enemigo Común

February 18, 2010 – From Casa Chapulin – Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno, husband and father of three children, was released from prison for wrongfully being accused for the killing of Indymedia journalist Bradley Ronald Will. Will was shot on October 27, 2006 by paramilitary troops under the orders of governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz while he was recording a mobilization in Santa Lucia del Camino, Oaxaca during the 2006 APPO movement.

Amidst the clouds and rainy day, the Martinez Moreno family was greeted by community members, teachers, friends, and media. Family and friends marched from the prison to the Zocalo. Juan Manuel was imprisoned for approximately 16 months without any solid evidence or witnesses proving him guilty.

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by Jenka, KBOO.fm

A Mexican judge has once again called for the release of human rights activist Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno. Moreno was charged with the murder of Indymedia journalist Brad Will in 2006, despite the fact that there was no evidence against him. On December 31, 2009, a Mexican judge recognized this lack of evidence, and ordered Moreno’s release within fifteen days.

Supporters of Juan Manuel Martinez Moreno say that he was framed for the murder because he is an activist who has pointed out corruption in the Mexican government. Several off-duty Mexican police who were caught on film shooting at Brad Will have not been charged with any crime. This past October, another judge ordered Moreno to be released due to lack of evidence, but the Mexican Attorney General’s office appealed the order. Moreno has been in jail for over a year, despite the fact that over one hundred eyewitnesses say that he was not present at the scene of Brad Will’s murder.

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Oaxaca, Oax, Mexico
July 31, 2009

TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Dear President Obama,

Maria Libia Martinez Moreno and the Martinez Tejada family wish, by means of this letter, to communicate to you our concern regarding the homicide case of Bradley Roland Will. We send this in the hope that our plea for help will reach you, by way of the U.S. Embassy.

On October 27, 2006 the journalist, Bradley Roland Will, a U.S. citizen from Evanston, Illinois, was filming for the news agency Indymedia, a march by the Oaxaca social movement, as it proceeded toward the municipality of Santa Lucia del Camino, just outside the city of Oaxaca. During the demonstration violence broke out between some demonstrators and groups made up of public servants and sympathizers of the PRI party. Bradley was injured by a firearm and subsequently died.

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By Scott Campbell

It’s been a busy and interesting week regarding developments in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the U.S.

First, there was the report in the Mexican media on July 29 that an investigation by officials from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police into the murder of U.S. independent journalist Brad Will affirmed the conclusions drawn by the Mexican Federal Attorney General’s Office (PGR) regarding his death.  The PGR, contrary to all available evidence, claims Will, shot in Oaxaca in 2006, was killed at close range by a anti-government protester.  The media reports raised more questions than they answered. For example, why was the RCMP investigating this, and why, as evident from the reports, did they carry out such a clearly laughable investigation?

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August 3rd, 2009

The Will family today condemned the latest tactics of the Mexican prosecutor general’s office (PGR) in the investigation into the death of photojournalist Brad Will, who was shot while filming street protests in Oaxaca, Mexico in October, 2006.

With the leak last week of a report written by some retired Canadian police officers – a report commissioned by the PGR and presented in the Mexican press as an investigation carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – the PGR continues its pattern of biased, unscientific and politically motivated investigative efforts of justifying a deeply flawed investigation into the true circumstances of Brad’s death.

The PGR has continually refused to pursue the most likely scenario that off duty Oaxacan municipal authorities – who were filmed shooting guns into the protesting crowds numerous times during that day – were responsible for many of the deaths in Oaxaca, including Brad Will’s. Instead, the PGR has chosen hearsay and fabricated evidence to help imprison an innocent man, Juan Manuel Martinez Merino. The Will family deplores the politicization of the Brad Will case.

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