Colombia - Governor's arrest does not resolve threats to four journalists
Colombia - Governor's arrest does not resolve threats to four journalists
Source: Reporters Without Borders - Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:02 PM
Author: Reporters Without Borders
Paris, 15 October 2013
Dr. Juan Manuel Santos President of Colombia
Mr. Eduardo Montealegre Lynett Prosecutor-General
Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Palomino López National Police Director
Dear President Santos, Dear Prosecutor-General Montealegre, Dear National Police Director Palomino,
Reporters Without Borders, an international organization that defends freedom of information, urges you to intervene quickly to guarantee the safety of four journalists – Claudia López, Gonzalo Guillén, León Valencia and Ariel Avila.
This appeal concerns not only their physical safety but also, and above all, a judicial resolution of the grave allegations they brought to the public's knowledge in the course of their work, namely the disturbing infiltration of certain areas of the state apparatus by paramilitaries and drug traffickers.
The National Protection Unit (UNP) warned these four journalists on 25 September that they were liable to be targeted by a so-called BACRIM (criminal gang formed by former paramilitaries) in the northeastern department of La Guajira.
Because of the imminence of this threat, the UNP gave them a police escort and amour-plated car on 26 September. Fearing for her safety, López (pictured) announced on 1 October that she was leaving the country, and she is now abroad. Guillén also announced that he was going into self-imposed exile on 12 October.
More:
http://www.trust.org/item/20131016105141-tr9tp/?source=search