Colombian journalist and attorney Édison Alberto Molina was killed last week in the city of Puerto Berrío in the Department of Antioquia, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Molina was attacked on Sep. 11 by unidentified suspects that shot him four times in the head when he was heading back to his house with his wife, who was mildly injured.
Molina, 40, ran the radio program “Consultorio Jurídico” every Wednesday on the channel Puerto Berrío Stereo where he would address callers' legal questions. During this time, as Colombia's Foundation for the Freedom of the Press (FLIP) has documented, he also accused the current mayor of the city, Robinson Baena, of committing several acts of corruption.
“The authorities should get to the bottom of the murder of Édison Alberto Molina, find out the motive, and put those responsible on trial,” said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior coordinator for the Americas.
The director of the radio station where Molina worked, Orlando González, told CPJ that Molina had received several threats in recent months and that a week before the murder, a bag came to him with a handful of dirt and unidentified bones.
The FLIP, which has called for an immediate investigation, also underscored the constant threats against Molina. The organization reported two weeks before his death that stones were thrown into his office. Journalist Óscar Trujillo said that the stones were wrapped in paper with death threats written on them.
Reporter Benjamín Pelayo told CPJ that Mayor Baena used his own public television program to defend his administration, denying all of Molina’s accusations.
The CPJ tried to contact Baena regarding the murder of Édison Alberto Molina. However, the mayor has not responded nor returned the organization’s phone calls.
The Department of Antioquia has turned into one of the most dangerous areas for journalists in Colombia due to the increase in gang violence, carried out for the most part by drug trafficking ex-paramilitary fighters. These fighters blackmail local businesses and in many cases work with the local authorities, according to a CPJ report.
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.
