Globovisión threatened with criminal investigation

In response to today’s request by the Venezuelan National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) that the Attorney General’s Office determine whether the private broadcaster Globovisión is criminally liable for violating the telecommunications law, we issued the following statement…

“This decision came just hours after President Hugo Chávez Frías warned Globovisión to cease its critical coverage or be shut down,” said CPJ’s Americas Senior Program Coordinator Carlos Lauría. “The threat of a criminal investigation is a serious escalation of the government’s unrelenting pursuit of this independent broadcaster, and it sends a chilling message to what remains of Venezuela’s critical media.”