Representatives from the Colombian Attorney General and Prosecutor's Offices asked the Supreme Court to overturn a journalist's conviction for libel, reported the newspaper El Espectador. According to the spokespersons, journalist Luis Agustín González's opinion column is protected by the right to freedom of expression and therefore cannot be charged politically or criminally, added the newspaper.
An attack on a photographer in Colombia by the National Police on Oct. 23 prompted press organizations to demand more investigations and punishments against those that harm journalists.
A member of the Colombian National Police attacked a photographer on Tuesday, Oct. 23, reported the newspaper Vanguardia Liberal. Ana María García, photographer for the newspaper El Tiempo, was covering a serious accident on the mass-transit system of Bogotá, the capital, when the officer attacked her, according to the newspaper.
The newspaper El Espectador de Colombia claimed the Attorney General of Colombia threatened to censor it, the publication said in an editorial published Wednesday, Oct. 16, reported the Associated Press (AP).
Police detained a photographer for an hour and a half in Colombia on Sunday, Oct. 7, reported the newspaper Vanguardia Liberal. While in custody, the photographer was forced to erase pictures he took while covering a bomb explosion in a city park in Bucaramanga, Santander.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights declared the Colombian government was responsible for the attacks suffered by cameraman Luis Gonzalo "Richard" Vélez Restrepo and the threats he received that prompted him and his family to seek asylum, reported the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP in Spanish) on its website.
A Colombian journalist claimed that criminal gangs he reported on were planning to kill him, reported the newspaper El Meridiano de Sucre.
The Attorney General of Colombia announced on Sept. 26 that it would take preventative measures to protect the fundamental rights of 10 threatened journalists who interviewed an ex-paramilitary leader, reported Caracol Radio.
On Friday, Sept. 21, the Colombian government began consulting journalists who were victims of the armed conflict to identify proposals and strategies for their collective reparation, according to the Unit for the Care and Reparation of Victims' website.
After conducting and publishing an interview with an ex-paramilitary leader, 10 Colombian journalists were threatened in Santa Marta, Magdalena, reported the news agency EFE.
The Colombian Attorney General declared the kidnapping and torture of journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima by the Centauros block of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia paramilitary group in 2000 as crimes against humanity, reported the newspaper El Tiempo.
A Colombian judge sentenced a journalist for the crime of conspiracy, punishable with up to 18 years in prison, claiming the journalist had connections to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC in Spanish), reported Europa Press.