Colombia's prosecutor's office opened an investigation Wednesday after a prominent journalist said she and her family were victims of "intimidation," attributed to President Petro's attitude toward the media.
Camila Zuluaga claims that a "fanatic" that Gustavo Petro allegedly "supported" by responding to his messages on social networks followed her and spread images of her and her family online. In these documents, she is seen walking to her house with her baby, husband and another wife. The harassment she suffers is, she says, "a direct consequence of the attitude" of Mr. Petro towards the media.
«
I confess to you, Mr. Chairman, that this is the first time I am afraid of what could happen. Not to me, but to my family," she said, addressing the leader in a video that has gone viral.
Media stigmatization
The prosecutor's office announced the opening of an investigation to determine "who is behind the intimidation" directed against Ms. Zuluaga.
Following the filing of the latter's complaint, the NGO Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) called on Twitter Mr. Petro not to "discredit, delegitimize or attack any journalist or media", also asking him to "support the exercise of a free press". On several occasions, this organization considered that the Colombian president "stigmatizes" the media and "creates a climate of violence" around them.
The leader refuted these accusations. "I am not attacking journalists, but if they say false things about me, I have the right as a human being to shed light on these lies," he wrote on Twitter. More than 160 journalists have been attacked in Colombia this year, including three killed, according to FLIP data.