(RSF/IFEX) – On 11 March 2003, RSF voiced its deep concern about the murder of radio journalist Oscar Salazar Jaramillo, who was found stabbed to death in his home in Sevilla, in Valle del Cauca department (350 km. southwest of Bogotá), in the early hours of 10 March. “We urge you to do everything possible […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 11 March 2003, RSF voiced its deep concern about the murder of radio journalist Oscar Salazar Jaramillo, who was found stabbed to death in his home in Sevilla, in Valle del Cauca department (350 km. southwest of Bogotá), in the early hours of 10 March.
“We urge you to do everything possible to ensure that the motives for this murder are established and that those responsible are identified and punished,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to State Prosecutor Luis Camilo Osorio.
Local authorities said Salazar was stabbed to death while resting in his home. They did not say if they were aware of any threats against him. Salazar was the owner and manager of Radio Sevilla, a radio station he founded in 1954, affiliated with Radio Caracol. He presented a weekly programme of local news, “Sevilla en 7 días,” in which he had reported cases of embezzlement in the local municipal government.
He had himself held several posts in the municipal government and chamber of commerce. In the 1970s, he was also a parliamentarian for the Popular National Popular Alliance (ANAPO) movement.
According to data compiled by RSF, five journalists were killed in Colombia in 2002, about 60 were abducted, threatened or physically attacked, more than 20 were forced to flee the country or the region where they lived and worked, and eight were the target of attacks or attempted attacks with explosives.
