Two journalists who had returned from watching a popular party in the Colombian Caribbean were killed today, police said.
During the night, as reporters were traveling between the municipalities of El Copey and Fundación by car, Leiner Montero Ortega, 37, and Dilia Contreras, 39, were approached by “two criminals on motorcycles” who had been “shot by a gun” in Cantillo. , said Colonel Andrés Serna, the commander of the Magdalena police.
Both journalists worked at the Sol Digital portal in Fundación, northern Colombia.
Serna, who did not specify whether she was also a journalist or not, explained that the attack also injured “one person receiving medical care”.
A video posted on Sol Digital’s Facebook page around 7:30 p.m. Saturday shows several people gathering at popular festivals in the municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima, about 16 kilometers from Fundación.
According to initial investigations, the attack involved an “act of intolerance” during the celebration, a phrase used by Colombian authorities to refer to arguments and physical aggression.
However, the Press Freedom Foundation (Flip) asked the authorities to “consider the journalistic work of Leiner and Dilia”, who is also the director of the “La Bocina” portal.
According to this Colombian NGO’s latest report, violence against journalists in the country has increased in 2021 and has been the victim of some form of aggression, including 768 professional murders.
Ten journalists have been killed since the signing of the peace deal with the former FARC guerrilla in 2016.
According to Reporters Without Borders, Colombia ranks third among the most dangerous countries to practice in Latin America, after Venezuela and Mexico.
source: Noticias
