Journalists Edgar Astudillo and Alexis Torrecilla have called on a number of press freedom organizations and on the IAPA’s Rapid Response Unit to keep close watch on the investigation into the murder of fellow journalist Clodomiro Castilla, committed on March 19 in Monteria, Córdoba province.

Astudillo and Torrecilla are asking for those responsible for the murder to be identified. They are the same people, in their view, who for the last month have been threatening them. They have been receiving threatening notes signed “Los Paisas” (The Compatriots) and telephoned death threats.

As Castilla had done, the two have been exposing the emergence of gangs in a new facet of the presence of paramilitaries in the area.

Provincial government officials warned on April 23 of the existence of a plan to attack journalist Alex Pajaro and they held a special meeting to offer protection to local journalists in case that became necessary.

The investigation into Castilla’s death was transferred to the Colombian Attorney General’s Office in Bogotá after two suspects arrested the day of the murder were released for lack of evidence.