Journalists Killed in 2012 - Motive Unconfirmed: Argemiro Cárdenas Agudelo
- Document source:
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Date:
18 December 2012
Metro Radio Estéreo
March 15, 2012, in Dosquebradas, Colombia
Cárdenas, 56, founder and general manager of Metro Radio Estéreo in Dosquebradas, in the western department of Risaralda, received a phone call at around noon from someone requesting a meeting near the station, news reports said. "He was walking to the prearranged meeting point when someone shot him," Col. Gonzalo Londoño, a police commander in the city of Pereira, the capital of Risaralda, told reporters. News reports said the gunman shot Cárdenas several times before fleeing on foot.
Cárdenas served as mayor of Dosquebradas in 1997. Alternating between journalism and politics, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2000 and served as secretary of public works for Dosquebradas and Risaralda. The Colombian press group Foundation for the Freedom of the Press said Cárdenas had pulled back from reporting at Metro Radio Estéreo and was mainly involved in the station's administrative and commercial sides.
On March 30, Jhon Alexánder Jaramillo García was convicted of killing Cárdenas and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. Jaramillo confessed to having committed the murder in exchange for 1 million pesos (US$500), news reports said. No information was released regarding the motive for the killing.
Motive Unconfirmed: CPJ is investigating to determine whether the death was work-related.
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