Human rights lawyer killed in Mexico: prosecutor

A lawyer who defended the rights of indigenous peoples in southern Mexico was found shot to death, prosecutors said today.

Heron Sixto Lopez, who ran a legal aid center for Mixtec and Triqui indigenous people in the town of Juxtaluapa, in the southern state of Oaxaca, was reported missing five days ago.

His bullet-riddled body was found on Saturday, Victor Alonso, a regional prosecutor, told AFP.

"He had at least six bullet wounds in different parts of his body," Alonso said.

Lopez's murder follows Wednesday's killing in Oaxaca of a 28-year-old crime reporter for the local newspaper El Imparcial.