spot_imgspot_img
Saturday, November 9, 2024

RAFAEL EMIRO MORENO, COLOMBIAN JOURNALIST UNDER GOVERNMENT PROTECTION, KILLED IN CÓRDOBA

Date:

BOGOTÁ — Colombian authorities must thoroughly investigate the killing of journalist Rafael Emiro Moreno, determine if he was targeted for his work, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

About 7:10 p.m. on Sunday, October 16, in the northern town of Montelíbano, two men aboard a motorcycle fatally shot Moreno while he was at the fast-food restaurant that he owned, according to news reports and Bogotá-based Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP).

Moreno was the director of independent online news outlet Voces De Córdoba, which published local news reports on Facebook, and a well-known community leader who received years of threats for his reporting on political corruption and drug-trafficking groups, FLIP Executive Director Jonathan Bock told CPJ via WhatsApp. The Colombian newsmagazine Cambio said Moreno recently investigated illegal gold mining by a powerful drug-trafficking group known as the Gulf Clan.

The Colombian government’s National Protection Unit (UNP) had assigned a bodyguard to protect Moreno and gave him a protective vest and an early-warning panic button, Jhon Murillo, a UNP spokesman, told CPJ via WhatsApp. However, at about noon on the day he was killed, Moreno, who didn’t believe protection was necessary while working at his restaurant, told his bodyguard that he could take the rest of the day off, which he did, Murillo said.

“The brutal killing of Rafael Emiro Moreno clearly demonstrates the deadly risks for Colombia’s most threatened journalists,” said Natalie Southwick, CPJ’s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator, in New York. “Colombian authorities must investigate Moreno’s killing to determine if it was related to his work, bring those responsible to justice, and urgently overhaul the country’s protection program to ensure that it keeps those under its care safe.”

Murillo said the UNP provided protection for Moreno for the past six years and that the journalist recently asked for a second escort and a vehicle since he was often left unprotected when his bodyguard ended his work shifts. But Murillo said UNP’s evaluation of Moreno’s security situation had not yet been completed at the time of his death.

Col. Jhon Fredy Suárez, the police chief of the northern Córdoba department, which includes Montelíbano, told Bogotá’s W Radio station that since 2019, Moreno had reported at least 20 death threats against him and that his department was investigating Moreno’s killing. Colombia’s attorney general’s office said it had assigned a special investigative unit that was taking “urgent action” to solve the crime and identify those responsible.

FLIP’s Bock said that it was the first time that a Colombian journalist under government protection had been killed.

On Friday, October 21, Moreno was scheduled to take part in a panel discussion in Bogotá, the capital, on the dangers facing regional journalists in Colombia, Jaime Abello, director of the Gabo Foundation, the nonprofit journalism foundation that organized the event, said.

smartnews
Smart News Liberia is an online news outlet and a product of Smart Media Group Inc. Our website, smartnewsliberia.com, covers a broad spectrum of news content. For inquiries or information, you can reach us at 0777425285 or 0886946925, or email us at smartnewsliberia@gmail.com or info@smartnewsliberia.com.

LATEST DEVELOPMENT

A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND AS MADAM GUAR CONDEMNS PROTEST ON CAPITOL

MONROVIA – Madam Grace RK Guar, a U.S.-based Liberian...

NPHIL STRENGTHENS PUBLIC HEALTH WITH NEW GENOMIC SEQUENCING AMID MONKEYPOX OUTBREAK

MONROVIA – In a groundbreaking development for Liberia’s public...

A MILESTONE FOR LIBERIA’S HIGHER EDUCATION, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN

The launch of Liberia’s first doctoral programs at the...

BOAKAI’S MISPLACED AMBITIONS AS LIBERIA BLEEDS AND THE PRESIDENT COURTS GLOBAL VANITY

Eight months into his presidency, Joseph Boakai’s administration is...

TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF MPOX – STAY ALERT, STAY PROTECTED

As Liberia confronts the resurgence of Mpox, the confirmation...

NO JUSTIFICATION FOR HIGH SALARIES OF BOAKAI ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS AMID ECONOMIC STRUGGLES

In the midst of Liberia's current economic struggles, revelations...

COMMENTARY

THE MASS DISMISSAL OF LIBERIAN PUBLIC SERVANTS: A TROUBLING TREND UNDER THE BOAKAI ADMINISTRATION

A Commentary by Wondah L. Jah Since assuming the presidency,...

SECURITY RISKS: IS PRESIDENT BOAKAI UNKNOWINGLY SETTING THE STAGE FOR EARLY COUP D’ÉTAT?

In his commentary, Liberian political analyst Vandalerk R. Patricks...

IS JOSEPH BOAKAI LISTENING TO PROTESTS AROUND AFRICA?

A Commentary By Wondah L. Jah In January, Joseph Boakai,...

LATEST NEWS

LIBERIA: DEBT BURDEN, ‘TOUGH ROAD FOR BOAKAI’S GOV’T’

MONROVIA – Amid a well advanced process of transition...

EPS INVESTIGATION FINDS NO EVIDENCE OF TARGETED ATTACK ON FORMER VP JEWEL HOWARD TAYLOR

MONROVIA – The Executive Protection Service (EPS) is currently...

Share post:

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

OPINION

LIBERIANS ARE IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UP AND CDC

  An Opinion By Grace RK Guar Every six...

AMERICA’S NEGLECT OF LIBERIA: A CALL FOR CHANGE

An Opinion By Bishop Dr. Rudolph Q. Kwanue, Sr A...

AMID AN UNENDING WAR AGAINST POVERTY, INJUSTICES – HAS THE PROGRESSIVE STRUGGLE BECOME LOST IN TRANSLATION?

A Patriot's Diary With Ekena Wesley What manner of Liberian progressives...

HAS PRESIDENT BOAKAI’S GOVERNMENT BEGUN BEARING GOOD FRUITS? (PART1)

By Jacob N.B. Parley Following a careful reflection, I have...

ELEVATING THE AG BIBLE COLLEGE TO A UNIVERSITY: A MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENT

By Jacob N.B. Parley After many years of successful preaching...

THE GALLERY

spot_imgspot_img

MORE ARTICLES

spot_imgspot_img

MORE NEWS

LATEST DEVELOPMENT NEWS

LATEST CRIME NEWS

Share via
Copy link