Incident
Colombian journalist gunned down
Details
A gunman fired three shots which killed him immediately as he waited to collect his son from school.
The journalist had received threats for a number of years – the most recent of which came on July 21 - and had been forced to leave Taraza on a number of occasions. He had only recently returned after the latest threats.
According to authorities, Cervantes received a threat less than a month ago giving him less than a few hours to leave town. The security of the journalist was the responsibility of the Unidad Nacional de Protection – the National Protection Unit - however for the past fortnight had reportedly no longer enjoyed that protection as a study of his house indicated that his life was no longer at risk.
The journalist had received many death threats by text message.
Summarised and translated by INSI from an article in the El Espectador newspaper
