(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has categorised as "confusing" the manner in which a new warrant was issued on 7 February 2007 for the arrest of Freddy Muñoz, the Colombian correspondent of the pan-Latin American television station Telesur, who was freed on 9 January after being held for 50 days.
Charged with providing logistical support for a 2002 bombing by guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC), Muñoz was freed for lack of evidence after former FARC members retracted statements implicating him and a medical report concluded that scars on his abdomen were not caused by the mishandling of explosives.
When criminal investigation officials issued the new warrant on 7 February without notifying his lawyer, they cited "new evidence"; namely, "documents found at his home by the Department for Administrative Security (DAS), a military intelligence agency, a medical report that contradicted the original one and a photo".
Muñoz's lawyer, Tito Gaitán, has pointed out that his client did not undergo any new medical examination following his release, and that the DAS search had been carried out a long time ago, and was not conducted at Muñoz's home anyway, but at the home of a lawyer who defends people accused of being guerrillas, with whom Muñoz had left one of his business cards.
The weekly magazine "Cambio" and the daily "El Tiempo" published a photo of "Freddy Muñoz with FARC guerrillas" on 10 February, three days before Gaitán had access to the latest evidence against his client. The two publications also reported that Muñoz had fled to Venezuela, where Telesur has its headquarters.
In a statement posted online on 15 February, Muñoz denounced the photo as "a montage" and voiced astonishment that it had appeared a month after his release. He also condemned links between certain judicial officials, DAS agents and paramilitary groups. He denied fleeing to Venezuela but said he had gone into hiding after receiving death threats by email from the "Black Eagles" paramilitary group. This group was behind a campaign of terror against the Caribbean coast media at the end of 2006 (see IFEX alerts of 13 and 7 February and 30 January 2007, 5 December, 22 and 17 November 2006 and others).
Commenting on the latest developments, RSF states: "These proceedings against Muñoz are marred by many irregularities. He should be presumed innocent until proven guilty and his security should be guaranteed. Neither of these rights has been respected. We will continue to support him as long as he is the target of threats and no formal proof of his guilt has been established."
RSF added: "Our organisation also condemns any exploitation of this case for ideological or political ends. Colombia has the misfortune of having two major press freedom predators - the FARC and the paramilitary."
