Journalist Rafael Moreno, director of a digital newspaper in northern Colombia who had been threatened for his research, was killed by hitmen on the night of October 16, an NGO and police said on Monday (October 17).
The journalist ran the media “Voces de Córdoba”, which specializes in information about the department of Colombia and is located in the municipality of Montelíbano, where he was shot.
“We are aware of that [Moreno] was involved in several investigations involving criminal and disciplinary charges,” the Cordoberxia Social Foundation wrote in a statement.
According to Colonel John Fredy Suarez of the Cordoba police, the journalist was in a public facility when he was shot by “two people” on a motorcycle.
In a short message posted on Facebook, the online paper complained that the “voice of truth” had been deleted “forever”.
In September 2022, Moreno denounced the cancellation of the protection program with bodyguards provided by the Colombian state, despite the threats he had received.
Among other things, he investigated the establishment of an “illegal quarry” on the property of a senator, from which he believed that material for the construction of public buildings was extracted.
The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Pedro Vaca, condemned the killing on Twitter.
“It is reported that his protection program has been withdrawn and this underscores the duty to investigate and punish those responsible,” Vaca said.
The prosecution announced the formation of a special group to investigate the crime and find the perpetrators.
According to the latest report by the Colombian non-governmental organization Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP), violence against journalists in Colombia increased in 2021, resulting in 768 victims of some type of aggression that year.
