(FLIP/IFEX) – Diva Jessurum del Río, a journalist for RCN Televisión, has been the target of threats and harassment in recent months. In the latest incident, on 14 October 2005, two unknown individuals came to her apartment building in Bogotá. Angered by the fact that she was not home at the time, the assailants insulted […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Diva Jessurum del Río, a journalist for RCN Televisión, has been the target of threats and harassment in recent months. In the latest incident, on 14 October 2005, two unknown individuals came to her apartment building in Bogotá. Angered by the fact that she was not home at the time, the assailants insulted the building security guard and broke some windows.
In April, Jessurum began receiving threatening telephone calls on her mobile phone. The caller, who identified himself as “Angelito” (“Little Angel”), told her to “stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong,” or it may get “broken.” The journalist continued to receive more threatening calls, approximately every 15 days.
On 16 August, a cake was sent to the journalist’s family home in Barranquilla. A note which was sent with the cake read, “This is a gift to remind you that you can’t hide anywhere. We’ll follow you from Barranquilla to Bogotá . . . For your own safety, don’t write or say anything about what you know. This is not the first time that you have been warned . . . We know where you live and where you work.”
Jessurum, who works in the entertainment section of Noticias RCN, is writing a book about the illegal diversion of US$2 million received by the Colombian government under the Plan Colombia. Sixty police officers were under investigation in connection with this case.
FLIP condemns the threats and harassment as a violation of press freedom and freedom of expression. The organisation calls on the Attorney General’s Office to launch an investigation into the threats and establish if they are connected to the journalist’s investigation.
