Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 18 May 2004, several journalists and media workers from local and international media outlets were assaulted by police and protesters during demonstrations against Free Trade Agreement (Tratado de Libre Comercio, TLC) negotiations in Cartagena, northern Colombia. Journalist Aníbal Terán and photographer Oscar Díaz, of the Cartagena-based weekly “El Universal”, were assaulted by […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 22 April 2004, Jorge Corredor, director of “El Pregón del Norte” programme, broadcast on La Voz del Norte radio station, survived an attempt on his life. The radio station is based in the city of Cúcuta, Norte de Santander. At approximately 7:30 p.m. (local time), an unidentified assailant opened fire on the […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Roberto Posada García Peña, also known as “D’Artagnan”, of the daily “El Tiempo”, is no longer facing legal action for libel. A Bogotá Superior Court prosecutor ruled that the journalist, by publishing a correction, had properly addressed a matter involving businesman Pedro Juan Moreno Villa. The prosecutor declared the case closed. Following […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – A Bogotá criminal court has sentenced paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño Gil to 38 years in prison for having masterminded the murder of journalist and humorist Jaime Garzón. In its ruling, the court acquitted Juan Pablo Ortiz Agudelo, alias “Bochas,” and Edilberto Antonio Sierra Ayala, alias “Toño”, for lack of evidence. Ortiz Agudelo and […]

(FLIP/IPYS/IFEX) – FLIP and IPYS are concerned about recent actions against the press in Barrancabermeja and demand that the local and national authorities take the necessary measures to ensure that journalists can freely exercise their profession in the city. The situation for media outlets in the port city of Barrancabermeja, in northeastern Colombia, has become […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 4 February 2004, journalist Oscar Alberto Polanco Herrera was assassinated in the city of Cartago, Valle department, western Colombia. The former director and host of the CNC news programme in Cartago was shot by a hired killer as he was leaving the Cartago local television station at around noon (local time). His […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – On 28 January 2004, Inés Peña, the 22-year-old leader of the Popular Women’s Organisation (Organización Femenina Popular, OFP) youth chapter and the host of the “Cultura por la Vida” segment of La Mohana television programme, was kidnapped, tortured and told to abandon her journalistic work. The incident occurred in the port city of […]

(FLIP/IFEX) – The 30 January 2002 attack against Orlando Sierra Hernández, deputy editor of the Manizales-based daily “La Patria”, remains unpunished. The journalist died on 1 February 2002, two days after being shot. In 2002, a man named Luis Fernando Soto Zapata was sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison for allegedly murdering […]