01 May 12 | Americas, Europe and Central Asia, Index Index, minipost
Update 02 May 2012: Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) confirmed in a statement today that they are holding French journalist Roméo Langlois prisoner.
A French television journalist injured during a clash between Colombian Army troops and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) has gone missing and may have been kidnapped by the rebels according to Colombian and French officials. Roméo Langlois, a correspondent for France 24 and a contributor to Paris daily Le Figaro, disappeared on Saturday. Langlois had joined the army unit to cover an anti-drug raid in the southern region of Caqueta.
19 Jan 12 | Americas, Index Index, minipost
A Colombian news network has accused Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro of operating a “totalitarian” approach to the press. In a web article published on Tuesday, CM& said Petro handling of the press was on an “alarming and disturbing” slope. The allegations followed a recent press conference on a bullfighting ban, where Petro allegedly refused to allow journalists to use their own equipment CM& claims the Mayor’s team provided their own, edited footage instead. The Mayor claimed the allegations were “insulting”.
14 Oct 11 | Index Index, minipost
The editor of a Colombian monthly newspaper has been handed a 20-month suspended sentence and a $5,500 fine. Luis Agustín González, who is both founder and editor of Cundinamarca Democrática, was convicted of criminal libel yesterday, after he published an article critical of local politician. In a 2008 article, González expressed his dismay that Maria Leonor Serrano had announced she would be a senate candidate in the 2010 elections. The article also referred to allegations of corruption throughout her career, and covered a range of disappearances and assassinations which occurred during her tenure as a town mayor.
31 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
Following the publication of stories in the Washington Post earlier this month that allege former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe Vélez may have been involved in illegal actions using the national intelligence service with the help of the US, the former leader accused the articles’ writers of being sympathisers of terrorism and accomplices of leftist guerrillas. The journalists in question are Juan Forero, the Washington Post’s Andean region correspondent, and Claudia Julieta Duque, a reporter who works in Colombia.
