Young programme host gunned down outside radio station

Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the murder of Flor Alba Núñez, a young programme host who was gunned down yesterday morning outside a radio station in her hometown of Pitalito, in the southwestern department of Huila. Two men on a motorcycle shot Núñez, 25, as she was entering Radio Preferida FM, where she presented the programme “La Preferida Stereo.” She also worked for the news programmes of Canal 6, TV5 and Canal Nación TV and was a student at the University of Magdalena’s social science faculty. Relatives said she recently received anonymous threats after posting photos of detained suspects on her Facebook page. The suspects were reportedly arrested shortly after committing a robbery near Pitalito’s city hall. “Núñez was the third journalist to be murdered in Colombia this year,” said Emmanuel Colombié, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Americas desk. “We condemn this shocking crime and urge the Colombian authorities to do everything possible to solve it. “Threats against journalists on the Internet and social networks are not taken seriously by the authorities although they occur every day and can lead to this kind of tragedy. We deplore the fact that no sanctions or preventive measures are envisaged when online threats are made against journalists.” There are other possible leads for those trying to establish the motives for Núñez’s murder. A possible link with her coverage of the campaign for local elections on 25 October is being considered. She was also reportedly threatened on social networks after her programme included an interview with persons involved in the killing of a dog in August. The western hemisphere’s third deadliest country for journalists, Colombia is ranked 128th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.