Mexico: Belgian journalist intimidated for investigating false police operation

First modification: 03/11/2022 – 10:53

For three months Emmanuelle Steels, a Belgian journalist based in Mexico, has received intimidating messages due to the investigation she carried out on the Florence Cassez and Israel Vallarta case between 2009 and 2015, a case that has come back to the fore through the Netflix series The Cassez-Valarte case. a crime novel. In this investigation, Steels delved into the evidence of a false police operation that was also televised, in which two leaders of a kidnapping organization were allegedly arrested: Florence Cassez and Israel Vallarta.

“Israel Vallarta has spent 17 years in a Mexican prison for the crime of kidnapping, although his trial has not concluded and he has not been found guilty. He has been the shadow of the case of Florence Cassez, who in 2005 was arrested along with Vallarta. The case of the Mexican has been forgotten while disproportionate attention has been given to the French: he has been sentenced by the media courts, but not by the Mexican justice system”. Extract from an article published in The Washington Post.

As a result of her investigation, Emmanuelle Steels published the book “The Theater of Deception. History of a montage” in which she explains that it was a case of corruption, a judicial machination set up by Mexican authorities with the complicity of a businessman. Although the book is from 2015, the spread of the documentary has caused some to get upset and begin to intimidate her.

Here is his testimony: