Colombia: Trade Unionist murdered over Coca-Cola law suit. On 31st August union activist Adolfo de Jesus Munera was murdered, shortly after receiving notice that a law suit filed by him against Coca-Cola had been accepted by Colombia's Constitutional Court. Adolfo de Jesus Munera, leader of the Sinaltrainal food industry workers' union, and former employee of the Coca-Cola plant in Barranquilla, was shot dead by unknown gunmen on the doorstep of his mother's house. In April 1997 Coca-Cola's plant chief had requested the Colombian authorities to take action against Munera, accusing him of being a rebel sympathizer. After a raid on his home he went into hiding, and was dismissed for not showing up at his workplace. Munera filed a law suit, demanding to be reinstated in his job. Munera won in the first instance, but at a higher level the company's arguments were accepted by the judge. Munera appealed and on August 22nd he received a letter saying that his case had been accepted. Seven union leaders from Coca-Cola plants in Colombia have already been murdered and others abducted and tortured. Almost 4000 national federation CUT union activists have been assassinated since 1986, without the Colombian authorities taking serious steps to prosecute the killers. News Agency new Colombia http://www.indexonline.org/indexindex/20020909_colombia.shtml
