Committee to Protect Journalists --CPJ

Historic conviction of mastermind in Colombian journalist's murder

 Bogotá, June 25, 2015 - A Colombian court sentenced the mastermind of a journalist's murder to 36 years in prison on Wednesday in a landmark conviction that followed years of lobbying for justice by local journalists.

 Politician Francisco Ferney Tapasco González was convicted for ordering the 2002 killing of Orlando Sierra Hernández, a muckraking columnist and deputy editor of the daily La Patria in the central city of Manizales, media reported. Sierra, 42, was shot in the head three times in front of his daughter.

 The ruling was a victory for journalists who have been battling for years to end chronic impunity in Colombia. The Bogotá-based Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) said it was the first time that everyone involved in a journalist's murder had been jailed.

 "After 13 years we finally have justice for Orlando Sierra whose case highlighted all that was rotten in the Colombian legal system," said Carlos Lauría, CPJ's senior program coordinator for the Americas, from New York. "This shows what journalists can achieve when they band together: impunity does not have to be the norm and the powerful can be held accountable."

Continue reading

 Link:   https://cpj.org/2015/06/historic-conviction-of-mastermind-in-colombian-jou.php