(FLIP/IFEX) – In separate incidents on 31 October and 1 November 2004, several journalists from the “Vanguardia Liberal” and “El Pilón” newspapers, based in the city of Valledupar, northwestern Colombia, were prevented from carrying out their work. In one of the incidents, the journalists were prevented from photographing the scene of a bus accident. In […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – In separate incidents on 31 October and 1 November 2004, several journalists from the “Vanguardia Liberal” and “El Pilón” newspapers, based in the city of Valledupar, northwestern Colombia, were prevented from carrying out their work. In one of the incidents, the journalists were prevented from photographing the scene of a bus accident. In the second incident, a photographer was assaulted by a group of demonstrators. The same demonstrators also held another photographer and a journalist for one hour.
On the morning of 31 October, journalists Irina Zeledón and Raúl López, of “Vanguardia Liberal”, and Abdel Martínez and Neptalí Castellar, of “El Pilón”, travelled to the municipality of Bosconia, in southwestern César, to report on a bus accident that resulted in the death of two children and eight adults.
The four journalists told FLIP that when they arrived at the site of the accident to photograph the bus, they were intercepted by an individual who claimed to be the manager of Expreso Brasilia, the transportation company the bus belonged to. The individual told the reporters, “you may have some power, but I also have some [powerful connections].” The journalists interpreted his comment as a reference to his contacts with paramilitary groups.
FLIP spoke with Expreso Brasilia representatives who explained that it was the company’s lawyer, Guillermo Arévalo, who had spoken to the journalists. Arévalo told FLIP that he was following police orders when he asked the journalists not to enter the accident area. He added that he never spoke disrespectfully to them, nor had he made reference to his “powerful connections.”
On the morning of 1 November, Martínez and photographer Medardo Avendaño, of “El Pilón”, were held by protesters for an hour while they were covering a demonstration in northwestern Valledupar. In the afternoon, the demonstrators assaulted Adamis Guerra, a “Vanguardia Liberal” photographer, who was covering the same event. According to Guerra, he arrived at the scene to photograph the demonstration at about 3:00 p.m. (local time). He said the protesters assaulted him and seized his camera. The military helped him leave the area, but he was not able to recover his camera.
In each of these incidents, the journalists were simply trying to carry out their work of informing the community about events in the region. The actions against them constitute attacks on press freedom and a community’s right to be informed. FLIP has called for support to be given to journalists, who play a fundamental role in the construction of a democracy.
