Colombia ( Human Rights Lawyer of Watchdog Agency Murdered in Colombia )

BOGOTA – An attorney working for the Colombian Public Ombud’s office in the central province of Meta was fatally shot in Villavicencio, the provincial capital, authorities said Friday.

Emigdio Conde Molina was with his wife Thursday night when two assailants on a motorcycle intercepted him and opened fire, police Col. Wilson Bravo told reporters.

Condemning the murder, Conde’s boss, Jorge Armando Otalora, called on Colombian Deputy Attorney General Jorge Fernando Perdomo to expedite the investigation.

Conde joined the Meta unit of the Public Ombud’s office in September 2012 and was recently posted to the municipality of La Macarena.

The attorney apparently had received death threats from guerrillas operating in the La Macarena area, Col. Bravo said.

Conde’s killing brings to five the number of lawyers murdered in Meta in the last three months, the Public Ombud’s office said.

Besides his wife, Conde is survived by two daughters ages 4 and 7.