(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Gustavo Rojas Gabalo is in serious condition after an attempt was made on his life on 4 February 2006, in Montería, Córdoba department, in northwest Colombia. As the journalist entered the city supermarket, a man approached him and shot him twice: once in the head and once in the shoulder. The assailant […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Gustavo Rojas Gabalo is in serious condition after an attempt was made on his life on 4 February 2006, in Montería, Córdoba department, in northwest Colombia.
As the journalist entered the city supermarket, a man approached him and shot him twice: once in the head and once in the shoulder. The assailant then fled on a motorcycle with another unidentified man who was awaiting him near the scene of the shooting.
Rojas had just returned from having covered a number of festivals in a municipality near Montería for the radio station Radio Panzenú. Minutes before the attack, according to various reporters, Rojas had been involved in a minor traffic accident, in which he exchanged heated words with the other driver involved.
Coronel Jaime Velasco, chief of the Montería police, informed FLIP that the traffic accident was being treated as a possible motive for the attack. Nonetheless, he asserted that the police have not dismissed the possibility that the journalist was attacked for reasons related to his work. “El Gaba”, as he is known in the local media, had not reported receiving any threats.
Rojas is the director of the radio programme “Gaba’s Show” (“El show de Gaba”) on Radio Panzenú. Station director Gladys Herrera indicates that his show enjoys a large public. Although the programme deals with a variety of topics, foremost in its content are complaints by the journalist and members of the community regarding the performance of Montería public officials.
A journalist of the region who requested that his identity not be revealed told FLIP: “His strong, sarcastic tone has been considered inconvenient by various local political figures.” Other journalists indicate that Rojas’ style has provoked various defamation and libel lawsuits.
FLIP requests that local authorities and the Public Prosecutor investigate thoroughly the motives behind the attack against Rojas, and that they ascertain whether or not the attack was related to his journalistic work.
