We issued the following statement today after learning that a criminal defamation suit had been brought against Colombian writer and journalist Alfredo Molano:
“We are alarmed by the criminal defamation suit brought by a politically influential family against Alfredo Molano over a column in the daily El Espectador,” said Carlos Lauria, CPJ’s Americas senior program coordinator. “Criminally prosecuting a journalist sends a chilling message to all Colombian reporters, and is out of step with the region’s growing legal consensus that defamation is a civil not a criminal issue.”