A retired police general was called to testify about the kidnapping and sexual abuse of Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya in 2000, reported the Associated Press (AP).
The general, Leonardo Gallego, who was an anti-drugs police commander and chief of the Judicial Police, was called to testify Tuesday, May 17, but did not appear, reported El País. So far no one has been charged in the journalist's 11-year-old case, and Gallego is the first to be cited.
Bedoya, in charge of the law enforcement coverage team of the newspaper El Tiempo and specialized in coverage of Colombia's guerrilla war, has written various books about the country's violence. Her work has resulted in her being threatened multiple times.
Bedoya is one of the few female journalists who has publicly recognized her sexual abuse while on the job. Recently, the case of sexual abuse against CBS correspondent Lara Logan in Egypt brought to the forefront the dangers female journalists face.
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» Knight Center (Lara Logan assault reveals U.S. media's deficiencies in covering sexual violence)
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.
