Articles by Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP
Renewed death threats against journalists in Barrancabermeja and Popayán
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 22 November 2007, two journalists based in different departments of Colombia received death threats: Diro César González, director of the Barrancabermeja-based weekly “La Tarde”, and Feibir Beltrán Luna, director of the Popayán-based Cauca Visión television station news programme “Cauca Noticias”. Barrancabermeja is an oil port in Santander department and Popayán is the […]
National Police commander makes unwarranted accusations against journalist, endangering his safety
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 24 November 2007, General Óscar Naranjo, head of the national police, levelled accusations against Telesur international television station journalist William Parra which may put the journalist in danger. The general accused Parra of promoting the idea that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Senator Piedad Córdoba were to be credited with negotiating the […]
Photographer and his assistant murdered in Cali
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 21 October 2007, hired killers shot to death photographer Carlos Alberto Jaramillo and his assistant, Julio César García. The crime took place in the neighbourhood of Los Alcázares, in northern Cali, when the journalists were setting off in a car in order to cover a cycling competition. Jaramillo, 50, was shot several […]
Editor receives death threats, newspaper’s offices attacked by protestors in Santa Marta
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 11 October 2007, a group of students from Santa Marta University, protesting a court ruling against the university’s former rector, attacked the offices of the newspaper “Hoy Diario del Magdalena”. They stoned the building and wrote denunciatory graffiti on its walls. Later, the editor of the newspaper, Ulilo Acevedo Silva, received a […]
Journalist flees country for fear of life following threats, president’s statements
(FLIP/IFEX) – FLIP is concerned about the recent statements by President Álvaro Uribe about journalist Gonzalo Guillén, who has now left the country for fear of his life. On 2 October 2007, in a radio interview the president asserted that Guillén “had dedicated himself to a journalistic career of lies and slander.” The president also […]
Television crew assaulted while investigating alleged housing fraud in Bogotá
(FLIP/IFEX) – On 27 September 2007, a crew of journalists from the television news programme Caracol Noticias was assaulted by two people as they were investigating a case of alleged fraud in the sale of homes for low-income families. The journalists were pelted with stones and threatened with a blunt weapon. The incident took place […]
Community radio journalist in Sabanalarga warned of murder plot against him
(FLIP/IPYS/IFEX) – On 21 September 2007, journalist Geovanny Álvarez Castro, co-director and host of the programme “La Verdad” on the community-based radio station 101.6 FM in Sabanalarga, Atlántico department, in northern Colombia, was informed by police that an attempt on his life was imminent. According to the information received by Álvarez Castro from Lieutenant José […]
New death threat against television programme director Hollman Morris
(FLIP/IFEX) – On the night of 27 September 2007, journalist Hollman Morris, director of “Contravía” television programme, received a new death threat in his personal e-mail. The message, containing the comment, “for being a squealer, for being a guerrilla, it’s coming soon,” arrived with an attached electronic document containing a photograph of the journalist marked […]