Authorities must ensure that the judicial system is not used to persecute or intimidate journalists.
Miami (January 20, 2026) – The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) warns of an increase in judicial actions brought in recent days against journalists and media outlets in Colombia, a trend that reveals a pattern of legal harassment aimed at intimidating, censoring, and obstructing independent journalism.
The most recent episodes of this type of harassment affect journalist Lorena Beltrán and columnist Ana Bejarano Ricaurte.
Beltrán, a journalist living in exile, is facing a new episode of judicial persecution that has even extended to the country where she currently resides, according to complaints filed by the Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP, for its Spanish acronym).
The reporter, who investigated plastic surgeons allegedly practicing without meeting legal requirements, had already been the target of four legal actions -known as tutelas- filed by the doctors mentioned. On December 31, 2025, she was notified—at her place of residence, information that was not publicly known—of a new proceeding initiated against her, a situation that has heightened her fears for her personal safety.
Likewise, last week presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella announced legal action against columnist Ana Bejarano Ricaurte over an opinion column published on January 11. In the piece, the author questioned his professional trajectory and political discourse, particularly his relationship with Alex Saab, identified as an alleged front man for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, currently detained in the United States.
The IAPA President Pierre Manigault stated that “these repeated actions constitute an abusive use of the judicial system with the purpose of punishing and silencing critical voices, as well as discouraging investigations and opinions of clear public interest.”
Manigault, president of Evening Post Publishing Inc., based in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, further warned that “judicial harassment not only violates journalists’ right to carry out their work free from undue pressure, but also restricts the public’s right to access plural and timely information.”
For her part, Martha Ramos, chair of the IAPA Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, said that “the use of the judicial apparatus as a mechanism of intimidation is incompatible with democratic principles and with Inter-American standards on freedom of expression.”
Ramos, editorial director of Organización Editorial Mexicana(OEM), urged Colombian authorities “to ensure that the judicial system is not used to persecute or intimidate journalists, to promote effective safeguards against judicial harassment, and to guarantee a safe and free environment for journalism.” She also called on judges and prosecutors “to act in strict adherence to international standards on freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”
The IAPA has repeatedly emphasized that these types of abusive legal actions, known as SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), do not seek redress for legitimate harm, but rather the emotional and economic exhaustion of journalists, the promotion of self-censorship, and the discouragement of reporting on matters of public interest.
The Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights establishes that “direct or indirect pressures exerted upon journalists or other social communicators to stifle the dissemination of information are incompatible with freedom of expression.” In turn, the IAPA’s Declaration of Chapultepec states in its tenth principle that “no news media nor journalist may be punished for publishing the truth or criticizing or denouncing the government..”
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.