Reporters threatened after reporting on sexual harassment by mayor

Salinas and Flores, reporters for the regional daily Conoeste, were threatened and harassed after reporting on sexual harassment allegations against the local mayor of Chosica, a town in the central province of Lima, Salinas told CPJ. She said she believes the threats are related to their reporting on the allegations.

Salinas said that beginning on January 6, she and Flores were threatened with death on several occasions. According to the reporter, they received multiple text messages and calls to their cell phones. The messages said, “Better be careful because we’re going to kill you,” Salinas told CPJ. The threats lasted several days.

On the night of January 14, Salinas and Flores were followed home by two individuals, visibly armed, who were traveling in a truck owned by the Municipal Civil Police, the reporter said. Salinas told CPJ that she recognized one of the men as a local government official.

Salinas, who covers the police beat, said she and Flores have recently reported on allegations that Chosica Mayor Luis Fernando Bueno Quino sexually abused several minors. CPJ calls to Mayor Bueno’s office were not immediately returned.