New York, March 24, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by threats against Peruvian radio journalist Rory Huaney Rodríguez in the city of Yungay, in the northern Áncash province. Huaney said the threats stem from his coverage of the trial of a former local mayor charged in the 2004 murder of journalist Antonio de…
PERU Attacks and threats against the press, particularly in Peru’s interior, continued a disturbing upward trend that began in 2004. After lessening in frequency and severity after President Alberto Fujimori fled office in 2000, assaults on journalists were reported regularly in 2005. The Lima-based press freedom organization Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, considered the authoritative local…
New York, December 16, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the conviction by a Peruvian court of three men in the murder of radio journalist Antonio de la Torre Echeandía in Yungay, northern Áncash Region. On December 15, the Áncash Superior Court of Justice found former Yungay Mayor Amaro León guilty of masterminding the February…
New York, May 5, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns yesterday’s verdict against Sally Bowen, a British freelance journalist who was tried on criminal defamation charges stemming from a single sentence about a high-profile businessman in a 2003 book. Judge Alfredo Catacora Acevedo found Bowen guilty of criminal defamation and ordered her and her publisher…
MAY 4, 2005 Updated December 12, 2005 Sally Bowen, freelance LEGAL ACTION, HARASSED In May 2005, Judge Alfredo Catacora Acevedo found British freelance journalist Sally Bowen guilty of criminal defamation and ordered her and her publisher to pay $10,000 Peruvian soles (US$3,000) to businessman Fernando Zevallos. Catacora also sentenced Bowen to one year of probation…
Overview by Carlos Lauría Journalists throughout the Americas came under increased attack in 2004 for reporting on political corruption, drug trafficking, and organized crime. Although democratic rights have been expanding in the region, press freedom has not always improved as a result.
Peru Attacks and threats against journalists increased considerably in 2004, reversing a decline that had followed Alejandro Toledo’s accession to the presidency in 2001. And while Peruvian journalists generally work freely, several have been prosecuted on criminal defamation charges. The embattled Toledo, a highly unpopular leader whose term ends in July 2006, has faced several…
JANUARY 19, 2005 Posted: March 1, 2005 Julio Jara Ladrón de Guevara, El Comercio LEGAL ACTION Jara, editor and publisher of the daily El Comercio, based in the southern city of Cusco, was convicted of criminal defamation charges brought by a former government official. He received a one-year suspended sentence.