(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Alfredo Serrano, who left Barrancabermeja, a petroleum port in Santander department, in late 2004 due to threats, went into exile on 29 August 2005 because it has been impossible for him to resume his work as a journalist in the city. In October 2004, Serrano announced on Radio Uno, where he was […]
(FLIP/IFEX) – Journalist Alfredo Serrano, who left Barrancabermeja, a petroleum port in Santander department, in late 2004 due to threats, went into exile on 29 August 2005 because it has been impossible for him to resume his work as a journalist in the city.
In October 2004, Serrano announced on Radio Uno, where he was news director, that he was suspending his work as a journalist and leaving the region due to fears that he or his family would be killed. He had criticised ties between paramilitary groups and Barrancabermeja public servants.
This is not the first time the region’s journalists have been threatened. Recently Calor Estéreo radio station journalist Rosberg Perrilla was verbally attacked by city council member Jhon Mario Moros in a message left on his cell phone’s voice mail.
In April 2003, journalist José Emeterio Rivas was murdered (see IFEX alerts of 26 and 24 February 2004, 17 February, 5 May and 10 April 2003). In early 2004, several of the city’s journalists informed FLIP that they had received threats (see alerts of 21 June, 26, 24 and 3 February 2004).
Barrancabermeja is one of the most difficult areas in the country to work as a journalist, as FLIP and several international organisations documented during an April 2004 mission to the region.
FLIP notes that attacks on press freedom and freedom of expression are human rights violations. Any attack on a journalist during an armed conflict also violates International Humanitarian Law.
FLIP therefore calls upon the Prosecutor General’s Office to continue investigating the threats which have forced Serrano into exile.
