The Internal Affairs Office of the Colombian police accused an officer of involuntary manslaughter for the death of journalist Guillermo Quiroz Delgado, reported the newspaper El Universal. The disciplinary hearing of officer Jorge David Pérez took place on Monday, Feb. 4, at the Sucre department police headquarters, the newspaper added.
On Nov. 20, 2012, Guillermo Quiroz was covering protests in the city of San Pedro, Sucre when the police impounded his motorcycle for not having the proper documentation. Then, the reporter supposedly argued with one of the police officers, leading to his arrest and placement in a truck bed to be taken to the police station. For reasons that remain unclear, the journalist fell from the vehicle while it was in motion, resulting in fractures to his head. The reporter's injuries left him hosptialized in intensive care until he died on Nov. 27, 2012.
The event sparked conroversy across the country becuase the reporter claimed until he lost consciousness that the police threw him off the truck. The police, however, denied the account, claiming that the reporter jumped off the truck in an attempt to avoid arrest.
The officer could be charged with failing to take the necessary steps to guarantee the safety of the detained reporter during his transportation to the police station, reported the newspaper El Meridiano de Sucre.
At the time, journalistic organizations and the Inter American Commission on Human Rights requested a thorough investigation into the reporter's death to "punish those responsible and ensure reparations due to the family," according to the magazine Semana. Police officers related to the case were suspended the same week the reporter died in an attempt to protect the investigation.
The Colombian Federation of Journalists asked the authorities to try those responsible "according to the Colombian criminal code and international treaties," the group said in a statement.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
