BOGOTA: Rebels with Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) group have freed two Dutch journalists snatched days ago in the country’s northeast, officials said Saturday.
Colombia’s ombudsman office, which handles human rights issues, wrote on Twitter that the rebel group freed reporter Derk Johannes Bolt, 62, and his cameraman Eugenio Ernest Marie Follender, 58, in a rural area of Norte de Santander state.
The office posted an accompanying photo purporting to show the pair, pictured with some of the rebels, along with Colombian human rights officials.
The announcement came after rebels issued what turned out to be an erroneous announcement earlier Friday stating that the two men, who were kidnapped on June 19, had been released.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders early Saturday confirmed that the journalists had been freed.
“Derk Bolt and Eugenio Follender were released today in the very dangerous region of Catatumbo in northern Colombia,” he said, adding that the families of both men have been informed and that the ambassador has been able to speak with them.
“They are doing pretty well considering the circumstances,” Koenders said.
“We’ve been in constant contact with the Colombian authorities who have worked hard on freeing them. I have a lot of appreciation and am grateful for their contribution,” Koenders added.
Officials feared the high-profile kidnapping could disrupt peace talks between the ELN and the Colombian government.
The journalists work for Spoorloos, a program on Kro-Ncrv TV that helps Dutch people trace their biological relatives around the world.
“We are pleased and relieved that Derk Bolt and Eugenio Follender are free. We are grateful to everyone who has worked to release Derk and Eugenio. In particular, we thank the Foreign Ministry. They have really done everything in The Hague and in Colombia in order to bring this about,” the news broadcaster said in a statement.
Like the families, we were very concerned about our close colleagues at KRO-NCRV. We are very happy that they can go home.”
The government of Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos and ELN opened peace talks on Feb. 7 in Quito, Ecuador, after nearly four years of secret negotiations.
The ELN, with 1,500 fighters, is the last guerrilla group still active in Colombia.
The government is seeking a “complete peace” with the ELN after reaching a peace accord last year with the much larger FARC — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The Colombian civil conflict erupted in 1964 when the FARC and ELN took up arms for rural land rights.
The fighting, which over the years drew in various rebel and paramilitary groups and drug gangs as well as state forces, has left at least 260,000 people dead, according to authorities.
Colombian rebels free kidnapped Dutch reporters
Colombian rebels free kidnapped Dutch reporters
Israeli court overturns conviction of officer who assaulted Palestinian journalist, citing ‘Oct. 7 PTSD’
- Judge sentenced Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service, saying officer “devoted his life to Israel’s security” and conviction was “disproportionate to severity of his actions”
- Footage shows Sofer throwing photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque
LONDON: An Israeli court overturned the conviction of a border police officer who assaulted a Palestinian journalist, ruling his actions were influenced by post-traumatic stress disorder from serving during the Oct. 7 2023 attacks.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced officer Yitzhak Sofer to 300 hours of community service for assaulting Anadolu Agency photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf in occupied East Jerusalem in December 2023.
Footage shows Sofer and other officers drawing weapons, throwing Alkharouf to the ground, and repeatedly beating and kicking him while he covered Palestinian gatherings near Al-Aqsa Mosque amid heavy restrictions.
Alkharouf was hospitalized with facial and body injuries. His cameraman, Faiz Abu Ramila, was also attacked.
Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf violently attacked by Israeli army in occupied East Jerusalem while covering Palestinian prayers near Al-Aqsa Mosque
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 15, 2023
Incident highlights ongoing restrictions on Friday prayers and press freedom in region https://t.co/exT6XqjEaA pic.twitter.com/pqugK9HnOt
Sofer had been convicted in September 2024 of assault causing bodily harm (acquitted of threats) and initially faced six months’ community service, as recommended by Mahash, the Justice Ministry’s police misconduct unit.
Judge Amir Shaked accepted the defense request to cancel the conviction, replacing it with community service.
He cited Sofer’s PTSD from responding to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, noting the officer had “no prior criminal record” and had “devoted his life to Israel’s security.”
“The court cannot ignore this when considering whether the defendant’s conviction should stand,” he said, adding that while the incident is “serious and does cross the criminal threshold,” the conviction in place could cause Sofer harm “disproportionate to the severity of his actions.”
The ruling comes amid surging attacks on journalists in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza since Israel’s war on Gaza began.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported Israel responsible for two-thirds of the 129 media workers killed worldwide in 2025, the deadliest year on record, citing a “persistent culture of impunity” and lack of transparent probes.
Reporters Without Borders called the Israeli army the “worst enemy of journalists” in its 2025 report, with nearly half of global reporter deaths in Gaza.
Foreign journalists face raids, arrests and intimidation. In late January 2026, Israel’s Supreme Court granted a delay on ruling a ban on foreign media access to Gaza.
