TV station chief badly wounded in shooting attack in Cali

Reporters Without Borders calls for a thorough investigation into yesterday’s attempted murder of TV journalist Diego Gómez Valverde in the eastern city of Cali, in which Gómez reportedly sustained five gunshot injuries. “We hope that Gómez recovers quickly,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Given that nothing was taken from the victim and the possibility that he was ‘warned’ before this shooting, acording to a few of his colleagues, the police should avoid their usual tendency to rule out any connection with the victim’s work as a journalist.” Reporters Without Borders added: “We recommend security measures for any colleagues or employees of Gómez who may have worked with him on stories liable to be the cause of reprisals.” Cali police chief Nelson Rincón said Gómez, the head of Canal Universitario, the University of Valle de Cali’s TV station, was driving in his car and had stopped at a red light when a motorcyclist pulled up alongside and shot him nine times. Nothing was taken from the victim. Three journalists have been murdered in Colombia so far this year, with a high probability of the motive being linked to the victim’s work in two of the cases. The climate has become even more hostile for the media as a result of the many cases of police violence during a recent major wave of street protests. At the same time, the climate of impunity persists.