- Fredy Muñoz
Fredy Muñoz Altamiranda (born in Cartagena) is a
Colombia njournalist who works forVenezuela -based TV networkteleSUR as correspondent inBogotá , having worked in the profession for 12 years. InNovember 19 ,2006 , he was arrested while arriving back in Bogotá airport on the grounds of an alleged "connection withterrorism ". The Colombian attorney-general office says Muñoz was allegedly implicated by former FARC guerrilla fighters currently in jail, whileteleSUR sustains Colombian judicial authorities are suppressing press freedoms by stimulating false accusations through their "awarded treachery" program.Muñoz has been working on stories which relate blasts against public services (such as power lines) in rural Colombia to military and police forces, instead of FARC-authored attacks on which they are usually blamed. According to his superiors in teleSur, this has raised discontent against him among Colombian authorities, who would have made up ungrounded accusations.
The credibility of Muñoz has been compromised since the outlets for his writings have very close connections with the FARC and the government of Hugo Chavez who has blocked press establishments opposed to his positions in Venezuela.
The
Reporters Without Borders organization has denounced the prison as an attack topress freedom . TheInternational Federation of Journalists issued a communiqué on similar terms, signed by regional directorGregorio Salazar , demanding Muñoz's immediate release.
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