Articles by Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP
Barranquilla city councillors threaten to initiate criminal proceedings against journalist
(FLIP/IFEX) – After attacking him verbally, the majority of city councillors in Barranquilla, the capital of Atlántico department, approved a motion to initiate criminal proceedings against journalist Ernesto McCausland Sojo for having published comments criticising the city council. On 20 June 2008, the “El Heraldo” daily published a column by McCausland entitled “The Angels and […]
Journalist freed four months after abduction by guerrilla group
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 19 June 2008, at about 5:15 p.m. (local time), journalist Mario Alberto Puello was freed from captivity by members of the National Liberation Army (Ejercito de Liberación Nacional, ELN) guerrilla group. ELN members handed Puello, who was abducted on 17 February in La Guajira department, over to International Committee of the Red […]
Journalist covering public hearing arbitrarily harassed, briefly detained by police
(FLIP/IFEX) – The photographic editor of the Barranquilla-based newspaper “El Heraldo”, Jairo Buitrago, was mistreated and detained by police officers when he refused to surrender to them photographs that he had taken at a public legal hearing in the city’s Civic Centre. Various individuals were witness to the incident. The 60-year-old Buitrago was left with […]
Public prosecutor prohibits broadcast of cosmetic surgery exposé, demands television station’s files on case
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 25 April 2008, “Séptimo Día”, a high-profile public affairs programme broadcast by Caracol national television network, received an order from Prosecutor 287, in Bogotá, not to broadcast a programme scheduled to run two days later, and was asked to turn over its investigative file on the subject of the feature. According to […]
Barrancabermeja ex-mayor turns himself in to answer charges of masterminding journalist’s murder
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 30 April 2008, Julio César Ardila Torres – the former mayor of Barrancabermeja, a oil port city in the department of Santander – turned himself in to the authorities. He is accused by the Prosecutor General’s Office (Fiscalía) of masterminding the April 2003 murder of journalist José Emeterio Rivas. Ardila Torres appeared […]
Threatened journalist relinquishes government-sponsored body guards engaging in intelligence activities against her
(FLIP/IFEX) – Claudia Julieta Duque, freelance journalist and a member of the human rights organisation Equipo Nizkor, has relinquished the protection scheme granted her by the national government, due to constant mismanagement of its operation and the fact that her government-provided bodyguards’ behaviour exacerbated her sense of vulnerability. She took the decision after being made […]
Journalists assaulted and threatened with murder during disturbances in Sincelejo
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 2 April 2008, several journalists were assaulted and threatened during disturbances in the city of Sincelejo, the capital of Sucre department, in northern Colombia. A reporter narrowly escaped being killed on the spot, while others had guns pointed at them. The incidents occurred during a day-long protest by motorcycle-taxi drivers against a […]
Paramilitary death threats against radio journalist in Manaure
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 11 March 2007, a pamphlet apparently written by the “Black Eagles Special Forces” (“Fuerzas Especiales Águilas Negras”) paramilitary group was circulated in the town of Manaure, La Guajira department. In it, journalist Kenneth Rivadeneira – a correspondent for the Riohacha-based radio station Radio Delfín – and eight other people from the region, […]