Reuters AlertNet Lite - Colombia defends arrest of TV journalist

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Colombia defends arrest of TV journalist

23 Nov 2006 22:58:55 GMT
Source: Reuters

BOGOTA, Colombia, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Colombia on Thursday defended its arrest of a correspondent for the Venezuela-backed Telesur television channel, saying the move had nothing to do with his work as a journalist.

Freddy Munoz, 36, has been accused of participating in leftist rebel attacks in the Atlantic coast cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena in 2002. He was jailed in Bogota on Sunday.

Press groups including Paris-based Reporters Without Borders have decried the arrest, saying it may have been prompted by interviews that Munoz had broadcast of leftist rebels.

"Colombia is a democratic state in which freedom of the press is respected along with the presumption of innocence," Columbia's Administrative Security Department said in a statement that denied the arrest violated press freedom.

"Munoz is part of an investigation of rebellion and terrorism. This has nothing to do with his work as a journalist," it said.

Colombia is locked a four-decade-old guerrilla war in which Marxist insurgents often bomb electrical towers and carry out other attacks.

Telesur was started by leftist President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and other Latin American governments as an alternative to cable news networks like CNN.

A staunch Washington ally, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has received millions of dollars in U.S. aid to crack down on the guerrillas and the cocaine trade that helps finance them.

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Last updated:Thu Nov 23 23:00:54 2006