The Supreme Court in Colombia absolved journalist Luis Agustín González on Tuesday, who had been sentenced to prison for the crime of defamation.
Ten investigative media platforms from Latin America combined forces to create ALiados, a network to strengthen mutual cooperation and find new ways to sustain independent journalism.
The drug trafficking groups known as Bacrim -- which formed after the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia surrendered its weapons -- are now part of the threats journalists must face.
Created in 2009 by acclaimed Colombian journalist Juanita León, news site La Silla Vacía ("The Empty Chair" in Spanish) was born with the mission of demystifying, one story at a time, the way that power works.
In just under two weeks, Colombian journalists have had to face one of their greatest fears: the resurgence of violence as a means to muzzle freedom of expression commonly used during the height of armed groups and drug traffickers.
Dignitaries, heads of states, journalists and advocates arrived in San José, Costa Rica yesterday, Thursday, May 2, for the welcoming reception of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s World Press Freedom Day conference.
With six countries listed without a free press, including three countries with some of the highest levels of impunity in the world for press crimes, Latin American freedom of expression is at its lowest levels since 1989.
Facing the possibility that three more cases of killed journalists might expire this year, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, FLIP, demanded that Colombia's Attorney General take all the necessary steps to bring the cases to justice, said the organization in a statement.
Colombian journalist Yesid Toro has been forced to leave his city after threats against his life, reported the newspaper El Espectador. Threats against judicial reporters are not uncommon in Cali Colombia; however, on this occasion members of the Judicial Investigations Section (SIJIN) of the National Police recommended that he leave the city, added the newspaper.
A Colombian journalist has been threatened by one of the most wanted drug traffickers in Colombia after reporting on the war over drug distribution in the neighborhoods of Ibagué, said the newspaper El Espectador.
Colombian reporters covering a coffee workers’ strike in the departments of Hulia and Tolima face violence from police forces and lack adequate protection, according to a March 8 letter from Reporters Without Borders
Colombian journalist Claudia Julieta Duque and former president Álvaro Uribe were unable to reach an agreement in the lawsuit for libel and defamation that Duque filed against Uribe, reported Caracol Radio.