“FLIP rejects public figures and journalists issuing messages that link reporters who cover social protests [in Colombia] with urban militias. These generic assessments put journalists at risk, deteriorate the conditions for the development of their work and negatively impact the debate on issues of public interest. On Nov. 23, FLIP learned that [journalist] Herbin Hoyos made and published a video in which he linked the press - which covered the protests in Bogotá and Medellín on Nov. 21 - with organized criminal structures.
[…]
For FLIP, it is worrying that the mass diffusion of these messages causes a scenario of permissiveness to violate the rights of communicators. In particular, it stands out that in the Colombian context there is already a latent risk for journalists who cover this type of action."
