A journalist from northern Colombia, Rafaël Moreno, whose protection had been withdrawn despite the threats hanging over him, was assassinated overnight from Sunday to Monday, announced a local non-governmental organization.
“
Last night the leader, journalist and investigator Rafaël Emiro Moreno Garavito was assassinated in the town of Montelibano
,” the Cordoberxia Social Foundation wrote in a statement.
Rafaël Moreno was the editor-in-chief of an online newspaper.
He was in a public establishment when he was shot by two people on a motorcycle, according to police colonel John Fredy Suarez.
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"
We know that he was working on several investigations with criminal and disciplinary complaints
," added the foundation about the victim who ran Voces de Cordoba, a media outlet specializing in information on the department of the same name.
In September, Rafael Moreno had denounced the withdrawal by the Colombian State of the protection system from which he benefited after having been the subject of threats.
The journalist was investigating in particular the installation of a “
quarry
” in the very property of a senator and from which, according to him, materials for the construction of public works were extracted.
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In a brief Facebook post, the online newspaper lamented that "
the voice of truth has been extinguished forever
".
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' special rapporteur for freedom of expression, Pedro Vaca, condemned the murder on Twitter.
“
It is reported that his protective regime had been withdrawn and this heightens the duty to investigate and sanction those responsible
,” he commented.
The prosecution announced the creation of a specialized team to investigate this crime.
Two journalists were shot dead at the end of August also in northern Colombia, bringing to 10, according to the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the number of members of this profession killed in Colombia since the signing of the agreement. of peace with the former FARC guerrillas in 2016. Mexico, where 10 journalists have been killed since the start of the year, according to RSF, is the most dangerous country in Latin America to practice this profession.