ARCHIVES: Colombia
Prominent radio journalist Herbin Hoyos Medina left Colombia on Monday after authorities uncovered a supposed plot to kill him, according to local news reports. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern about the threats against Hoyos and urges authorities to continue to provide protection and ensure that the journalist can return to Colombia and work without fear of reprisal. Hoyos, director and host of the morning radio show “Voces del Secuestro” (Voices... MORE
Veteran Colombian television journalist Diego de Jesús Rojas Velásquez was gunned down Tuesday outside the central city of Supía, according to interviews and press reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Colombian authorities to thoroughly investigate the killing. Rojas, a reporter and cameraman for the Supía-based community station Supía TV in central Caldas province, left the station’s studio around 6 p.m. after receiving a purported tip about an unspecified story,... MORE
Contravía, a TV current affairs programme that was forced off the air by threats eight months ago, resumed broadcasting on the Canal Uno public TV channel Thursday. Produced by freelance journalist Hollman Morris, Contravía has long occupied an important place in the Colombian media, above all because of its coverage of the country’s nearly half-century-old civil war. Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) hailed the programme’s return to Colombian TV screens while voicing concern for the safety of... MORE
Colombian police have arrested a man believed to have gunned down veteran radio journalist José Everardo Aguilar in retaliation for his reporting on corruption in southwestern Cauca province, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). On Friday, the Colombian National Police arrested Arley Manquillo Rivera, also known as "El Huracán," at a routine checkpoint outside the provincial capital, Popayán, according to an official police statement. Authorities believe Manquillo, who has... MORE
Hernando Salas Rojas, director of the Curillo municipality's local television station, in Caquetá department, was murdered on May 20, delayed reports have said. According to sources consulted by Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP) , unknown individuals burst into the journalist's home and fired several shots at him. Salas, who also previously worked in radio, was a community leader and the president of a committee calling for the recall of the local mayor, Esneider Mayorga. According to... MORE
Community radio station Radio Diversia, which is active on human rights issues connected to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community in Bogota, received threats recently from a group calling itself "La Organización", the Foundation for Press Freedom has reported. The harassment against the station began on April 30 when unknown individuals stole various computers from the station which contained information on its activities and projects, and databases of journalists and other... MORE
Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reiterated its call for an investigation by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) following a new round of revelations about the spying on journalists and news media by the DAS, an intelligence agency that reports directly to the president’s office. The phone-tap scandal was first exposed by the weekly Semana in February. “Ever since DAS director Jorge Noguera was fired and jailed and paramilitary infiltration of the intelligence... MORE
Veteran Colombian radio journalist José Everardo Aguilar, known for his harsh criticism of local corruption, was gunned down inside his home in southwestern Cauca province on Friday night, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Around 7:15 p.m. on Friday, an unidentified individual posing as a delivery man entered Aguilar's home, saying he had a package of photos, according to Ovidio Hoyos, director of the Popayán-based Radio Súper, where Aguilar worked. Once inside, the... MORE
Two individuals, who identified themselves as members of the far-right paramilitary group United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), shot Colombian journalist Gustavo Adolfo Valencia Ayala inside his home in the eastern city of Popayán on March 16, 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local news reports. The journalist, who was injured but is in stable condition, said he believes the attack was retaliation for his work. Two men approached Valencia, Papayán... MORE
A court in Colombia has issued an arrest warrant for prominent journalist Daniel Coronell for contempt of court after he failed to correct for a second time a story linking a local businessman to drug trafficking, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has learnt. CPJ has called on the judge to withdraw the contempt ruling until an appeal is heard. On March 18, the Penal Court of the Granada Circuit in Meta issued an arrest warrant for Coronell, news director of the TV network Canal Uno and... MORE
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