- Title: Small sit-in in Bogota demands ELN rebels release Dutch journalists
- Date: 21st June 2017
- Summary: CLOSE-UP OF STATUE OF INDEPENDENCE LEADER, SIMON BOLIVAR, WITH COLOMBIAN FLAG BEHIND GENERAL VIEW OF CATHEDRAL
- Embargoed: 5th July 2017 21:25
- Keywords: ELN Dutch journalists kidnapping Colombia demonstration
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
- Reuters ID: LVA0096M83XIB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Activists held a small sit-in in the centre of Bogota on Wednesday (June 21) demanding the release of two Dutch journalists who were captured by Marxist ELN rebels in a conflict area of northeastern Colombia, according to authorities on Monday.
Derk Johannes Bolt, 62, a television journalist, and Eugenio Ernest Marie, 58, a television cameraman, were seized while working in El Tarra in Norte de Santander, which borders Venezuela, according to a military statement.
Director of Social Organisation, Voices of Kidnapping, Herbin Hoyos, who led the sit-in, said the kidnapping could not be tolerated and demanded the journalists' swift release.
The 2,000-strong National Liberation Army (ELN) frequently kidnaps Colombians and foreigners, many of whom work in oil operations, for ransom and political leverage.
The ELN, the second biggest insurgent group, is in peace talks with the government to put an end to more than five decades of war in the Andean nation.
Last year the ELN seized a Spanish journalist, a long-term Colombia resident, and freed her six days later.
The armed forces have launched operations to find the two Dutch reporters. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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