The family of Colombian journalist Mateo Pérez is pushing for justice after prosecutors filed formal charges against a man identified as the alleged leader behind the 25-year-old reporter’s killing. The case has drawn national attention since Pérez’s death shocked the country back in May.
Pérez had traveled to Briceño, a rural municipality in Antioquia department in northwestern Colombia, to investigate human rights abuses and armed clashes between groups fighting for control of the area. When he stopped communicating with relatives, they reported him missing. Their worst fears were confirmed on May 5, when authorities announced he had been killed.
Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office says the suspect, known by the alias ‘Chalá,’ allegedly commanded a faction calling itself the 36th Front, a splinter group of former FARC guerrillas who rejected the 2016 peace accord and continue to operate in parts of the country. Chalá was arrested in the department of Tolima four days before a judge ordered him held in pretrial detention, and prosecutors have since laid out what they describe as damning evidence linking him to the murder during a court hearing.
Pérez’s relatives, however, say justice won’t be complete until everyone allegedly involved faces prosecution. They are demanding that authorities capture and charge all suspected accomplices in his death.
Read the full original report at El Tiempo for more details on the case.
Source: Habló familia del periodista Mateo Pérez, asesinado en Briceño, Antioquia, tras imputación contra 'Chalá' (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: alisdare1, BY-SA 2.0 (via Openverse).