Colombia journalist gunned down after years of death threats

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia journalist gunned down after years of death threats
Aug 13, 2014 posted by Tim Hinchliffe

A local journalist was assassinated in northern Colombia only weeks after the government removed his protective detail, media and the local press freedom watchdog said Tuesday.

Carlos Cervantes had been receiving death threats for years before being gunned down Tuesday on his way to pick up his son from school in the village of Taraza, in the northwestern state of Antioquia, according to Colombia’s Caracol Radio.

Two weeks before the murder, Cervantes had reported to the authorities that his life had been threatened, and that a man who identified himself as alias “Morroco” warned him he had two hours to leave Taraza, reported Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper.

According to Colombia’s Foundation for the Freedom of Press (FLIP), the slain reporter had been receiving death threats as far back as 2010.

More:
http://colombiareports.co/colombia-journalist-gunned-years-death-threats/

[center][/center]

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombian radio journalist gunned down two weeks after protection withdrawn

Colombian radio journalist gunned down two weeks after protection withdrawn
Published on Wednesday 13 August 2014.

Radio station director Luis Carlos Cervantes was gunned down yesterday in Tarazá, a town in the northwestern department of Antioquia, two weeks after the authorities withdrew the police protection he had been getting since 2012.
The director of Tarazá-based Radio Morena, Cervantes is said to have been one of the journalists who had received most threats in Antioquia. Three gunmen shot him as he was riding his motorcycle.

Colleagues said his murder may have been carried out by the “los Urabeños,” a criminal gang that was an offshoot from the paramilitary alliance known as the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC). He had covered many corruption cases in Antioquia municipalities involving links between local officials and organized crime.

Amid growing threats, he was granted a police bodyguard in June 2012 by the National Protection Unit (UNP), a government body that protects journalists, human rights defenders and lawyers who are threatened in connection with their work.

Two weeks ago, the UNP decided he was no longer in danger and withdrew his protection. Cervantes had nonetheless told the UNP on 21 July that he had been the target of a new death threat.

More:
http://en.rsf.org/colombia-colombian-radio-journalist-gunned-13-08-2014,46804.html