Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP

(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalists, photographers and video camera operators in the cities of Ibagué, Manizales and Bogotá were recently the victims of various acts of aggression perpetrated by students at several public universities or by the police. The incidents occurred during demonstrations against government economic measures considered damaging by some segments of the population, and against […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 14 June 2007, Garrid Muñoz Tello, owner of La Voz del Cinaruco radio station, based in Arauca, the capital of the department of the same name, was murdered in strange circumstances in the city of Villavicencio, capital of the department of Meta. The murder took place in a hotel located on the […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – Demobilised paramilitary leader Juan Francisco Prada Márquez, alias “Juancho Prada”, has confessed his responsibility for the 2004 murder of Martín Larrota Duarte, director of La Palma Estéreo radio station in the municipality of San Alberto, Cesar department, in northern Colombia. Prada Márquez’s admission was made on 16 May 2007, during his second “spontaneous […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 10 May 2007, a group of journalists was intimidated when a non-commissioned officer of the national army fired his weapon above their heads to prevent their approaching the scene of an attack on an army convoy. The incident took place on the Alto Bonito highway, three kilometers from the urban centre of […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – Adamis Guerra Bermúdez, photographer for the Valledupar edition of the newspaper “Vanguardia Liberal”, was assaulted on 9 May 2007 by informal gasoline vendors protesting a recent decision by the national tax authority. The incident occurred near the town hall of La Paz, 15 minutes from the city of Valledupar in Cesar department. The […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – The following is a FLIP press release: Impunity still prevails in crimes against journalists Wasted years and little progress made. This is how one could summarize the results of the justice system’s investigations into press freedom violations in Colombia, especially in cases where journalists have been murdered. Far from setting precedents on the […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – Diego Waldrón, the editor-owner of the magazine “Revista Gente” in the city of Barrancabermeja, Santander department, has reported to authorities that he has been the target of anonymous threats, apparently in relation to an article he published on municipal corruption. On 18 April 2007 at 7:00 a.m. (local time), Waldrón’s wife received a […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 8 April 2007, journalist Omar Jaimes and cameraman Rodrigo Piñeros of Canal CRN television were mistreated by a security guard of the company CIVIG Ltd., at a toll booth on the Bogotá – Girardot highway in the municipality of Chinauta. The incident occurred as the crew was returning from an assignment in […]