4 journalists in Northern Colombia receive death threats for denouncing corruption
4 journalists in Northern Colombia receive death threats for denouncing corruption
written by Stephen Gill March 21, 2017
Colombian police are investigating claims that four journalists in the northern Caribbean region received death threats following their denunciation of corruption in the area.
The reporters who included two from “El Heraldo” newspaper, a member of the press office of the mayor of Sincelejo and an independent journalist were subjected to the threats from a group calling themselves “Frente Sucre Sin Sapos” ordering them to leave the Sucre province within three days.
According to the group, Laura Toscano, Maria Bustamente, David Marquez and Jose Sarmiento were “poking their noses where they shouldn’t,” allegedly delivering the threats in a pamphlet circulated on social media.
Research by Colombian magazine Pacifista claimed that the threats are in response to El Heraldo’s coverage of two controversies.
The first was “the prosecutors’ cartel,” a purported network of officials from the Sucre Sectional Prosecutor’s Office who collected juicy sums of money to file, divert or paralyze investigations against corruption politicians prosecuted for corruption.
The second scandal involved corruption surrounding payments that the secretary of the health department made to health care agency IPS for alleged emergency care for mentally ill people who were not affiliated to the health system.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/4-journalists-northern-colombia-receive-death-threats-denouncing-corruption/
