THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – Two Dutch journalists have been freed unharmed after being held captive for almost a week by leftist rebels in Colombia.
Derk Bolt and Eugenio Follender were released before dawn Saturday near where they were apprehended by guerrillas belonging to the National Liberation Army. Bolt said the two are doing well and anxious to be back with their families in Europe.
In an interview with Colombia’s Caracol radio, Bolt said the two men were treated well by their captors, suffering only a few scratches from 14-hour marches to evade security forces who had mounted a massive search.
He said the reporters at first thought they were being robbed because their captors demanded they turn over their cameras. Then they were shuttled from safe house to safe house before eventually taking refuge in the jungle.
“It was very hard, but the people who took us captive were very warm and treated us with lots of respect, almost like friends,” Bolt told Caracol. “They always told us our lives weren’t in danger.”