The UNESCO director-general has condemned the recent killing of a Colombian journalist.
Edison Alberto Molina was shot repeatedly while riding his motorbike home on September 11th. He hosted a radio show that regularly denounced corruption in the local government in the district of Parque Berrio, close to Medellin in Antioquia department.
“I condemn the killing of Edison Alberto Molina,” said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), on Friday. “It is essential that the perpetrators of this crime, which threatens the rights of Colombians to debate issues of concern, be brought to justice.”
It is reported that 40-year-old Molina had received several death threats in the months preceding his death. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) claimed that 2 weeks before his death, rocks had been thrown at Molina’s law office. They have asked authorities not to rule out the possibility that he was killed because of his journalistic work.
RSF reported that a few minutes after the killing, Puerto Berrio city councilman Francisco Villa said he had received a phone call warning that he would be the next victim.
Molina is the third journalist killed in Colombia since the beginning of the year, according to UNESCO.
Sources
- UNESCO chief denounces killing of Colombian radio host (UN News Centre)
- La Unesco condena el asesinato del periodista Edison Alberto Molina (CM&)
- La Unesco condena el asesinato del periodista Edison Alberto Molina (El Mundo)
- Reporteros sin Fronteras cree que Alberto Molina fue asesinado por ser periodista (Vanguardia)
- LAWYER/RADIO JOURNALIST MURDERED, AUTHORITIES SHOULD NOT RULE OUT JOURNALISM CONNECTION (Reporters Without Borders)
