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On October 16, 2022, Colombian journalist Rafael Moreno was assassinated in northern Colombia. Cases of local corruption, activities of illegal armed groups, embezzlement… Forbidden Stories, an international consortium made up of around thirty media outlets including France 24, continued its investigations for six months. Discover the extract of this survey
“If you want to kill me, kill me. But I’m telling you right away, you won’t silence me.” On the night of Sunday, October 16, 2022, Rafael Moreno was shot dead in a business in Montelíbano, in northern Colombia. The journalist was director of the online medium Voices of Cordobain which he regularly denounced cases of local corruption, the activities of illegal armed groups and even embezzlement.
In September, a month before his death, Rafael Moreno had denounced the withdrawal, by the Colombian State, of the protection system he enjoyed after having been subjected to threats. The journalist was investigating in particular the installation of a “quarry” on the property of a senator and from which, according to him, materials for the construction of public works were extracted.
Corruption and embezzlement, among his investigations
Before being murdered, Rafael Moreno had come into contact with Forbidden Stories, an international consortium of investigative journalists that offers threatened colleagues protection of their documents. He had shared the threats he received on a daily basis and had decided to share all the investigations he was working on. With one goal: that if anything ever happened to him, his work could continue.
For six months, a group of about thirty journalists, coordinated by Forbidden Stories, thus took charge of the investigations of Rafael Moreno. France 24 and RFI have joined this international consortium.
A France 24 team traveled to the Córdoba region as part of the “Raphael Project”. The channel will broadcast on Wednesday, April 19, an exclusive report on mining in the Cordoba region -one of Rafael Moreno’s main research topics-, then on Friday, April 21, a portrait of the journalist, through the eyes of his mourner family and relatives who intends to continue his mission.
Throughout the week, France 24 will also receive guests to talk about the investigations carried out within the framework of this “Raphael Project”, the threats against the press in Colombia and talk about the work of Forbidden Stories.
