(FLIP/IFEX) – Based on evidence and witness testimonies, the Attorney General’s Office has linked Barrancabermeja Mayor Julio Ardila and three municipal officials to the 6 April 2003 murder of journalist José Emeterio Rivas. Finance Secretary Juan Pablo Ariza, Infrastructure Secretary Fabio Pajón Lizcano and the manager of a business development entity, Abelardo Rueda Tobón, were […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Based on evidence and witness testimonies, the Attorney General’s Office has linked Barrancabermeja Mayor Julio Ardila and three municipal officials to the 6 April 2003 murder of journalist José Emeterio Rivas. Finance Secretary Juan Pablo Ariza, Infrastructure Secretary Fabio Pajón Lizcano and the manager of a business development entity, Abelardo Rueda Tobón, were arrested on 11 July by members of the Technical Investigations Body (Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación, CTI). Mayor Julio Ardila, however, remains at large.
According to Miller Guzmán, Ardila’s lawyer, the mayor was in the city of Bucaramanga attending to government business when CTI carried out the searches. “He will turn himself in voluntarily. Because of the high level of media attention, we are gathering evidence, advice and witness testimonies, to ensure that justice is carried out,” said Guzmán. He further stated that the date on which his client will turn himself in would be made known by 15 July.
Rivas was killed on the road between Barrancabermeja and Bucaramanga, in Santander department. The Attorney General’s Office linked the murder to three members of the paramilitary “Bolívar” division, known as “Bedoya”, “Fredy” and “Oscar”. The investigation revealed that they had contacted Rivas a day before his death. Of the three individuals suspected of carrying out the murder, one has died, a second remains at large and the Attorney General’s Office captured “Oscar”, or Wolmar Said Sepúlveda Ríos, in late June.
In January 2001, Rivas’ case was taken up by the Interior and Justice Ministry’s protection programme for journalists, after he received death threats. According to Rivas, he had received death threats since 1999 by way of telephone calls to the programme he directed, “Las Fuerzas Vivas”, broadcast by Calor Estéreo radio station. The journalist also reported that in 2001 he received a message, presumably from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) guerrillas, warning him to be careful because “assassins” had been hired to kill him. In late 2001, while on the air, Rivas condemned local paramilitary groups, led by two individuals known as “Setenta” and “Harold”, who, according to the journalist, had ordered his assassination. On 28 February 2003, Rivas sent a letter to Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio advising him of the threat.
In his programme, Rivas denounced irregularities in government offices, invited listeners to comment on security matters, such as murders in the city, and questioned the actions of groups acting outside the law. The journalist believed that the threats were issued by “those who felt I was referring to them when I criticised various actors in society.” Prior to his death, Rivas filed a complaint with city council alleging that the mayor was involved in issuing contracts that favoured paramilitary groups.
