Two journalists shot dead in northern Colombia
A policeman in front of a crime scene in Colombia (illustrative image).
AP - Ferley Ospina
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Two Colombian journalists were shot dead on Sunday in the north of the country by people riding motorbikes as they returned from reporting on a popular party in the Colombian Caribbean.
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Leiner Montero Ortega, 37, and Dilia Contreras Cantillo, 39, were driving on a road between the towns of El Copey and Fundacion when they were approached "
by two criminals on motorcycles
" who "
fired a gun at fire
,” said Colonel Andres Serna, police commander of the Magdalena department.
The two journalists worked for a website, Sol Digital, located at Fundacion.
The attack also left one injured "
who is receiving medical treatment
", said Serna, who did not specify whether the injured person is also a journalist.
A video posted around 7:30 p.m. Saturday on
the Sol Digital Facebook page
shows several people attending a popular celebration in the village of Santa Rosa de Lima, about 16 km from Fundacion.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the murder of the journalists is linked to an "
act of intolerance
" during the festivities, an expression used by the Colombian authorities to designate fights and physical altercations.
Third most dangerous country in Latin America for journalists
But the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP), a Colombian NGO, asked the authorities to "
take into account in the investigation the journalistic work of Leiner and Dilia
".
The latter also ran a website called La Bocina.
According to this NGO, violence against journalists in the country increased in 2021, with 768 attacks, including one murder.
“
We condemn the murder of the journalists
,” said Juan Pappier, of the NGO Human Rights Watch, on Twitter.
Senate President Roy Barreras of the ruling left-wing Pacto Historico coalition denounced an attack on "
the life of democracy
" and demanded that the crime be solved.
Since the signing of the peace agreement with the ex-guerrilla Farc in 2016, ten reporters have been killed, making Colombia the third most dangerous country in Latin America to exercise the profession of journalist, behind Venezuela and Mexico, according to Reporters Without Borders.
(
With
AFP)
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