The neo-paramilitary “Anti-Land Restitution Army” has threatened eight journalists in the north of Colombia via leaflets delivered to their respective news outlets.
The threatened journalists had all consistently reported on the issue of land and victim restitution in the northern department of Cesar.
The leaflet, it was revealed by the Federation for the Freedom of the Press (FLIP), stated that the journalists, who worked for the news outlets Blu Radio, RCN TV, CM&, Al Día, Maravilla, RPT, El Heraldo and Radio Guatapuri, were warned they had been made “military objectives”, and that they had 24 hours to leave the region.
The authorities are currently working on verifying the threats; however a FLIP representative spoke to Blu Radio stating that no threats should be underestimated. This is supposedly not the first time that the group has made threats on land restitution leaders in the Cesar region. “These kinds of antecedents are what make us believe this is not a game,” said Ana Maria Ferrer Arroyo of FLIP.
Two of the threatened journalists are already in the hands of a state protection scheme and the FLIP has requested protection for the remaining six.
Valledupar, Cesar
Sources
- ‘Ejército anti-restitución de tierras’ amenaza a ochos periodistas en Valledupar (El Espectador)
- Amenazan a ocho periodistas en Valledupar (El Heraldo)