By Ingrid Bachmann
Esneider Mayorga Corrales. the former mayor of Curillo, in southern Colombia, received 40 years in prison for ordering the killing of journalist and community leader Hernando Salas Rojas last year, reported the news agency EFE. The hit-man who committed the murder, Elber Parra Cuéllar, was sentenced to 42 years.
Salas, who worked for a community television station, was leading a process to recall the mayor for alleged irregularities when he was shot to death at his house in May 2009.
According to El Diario del Huila, the ex-mayor is a fugitive, and there is a warrant for his arrest.
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.
