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Alert

RSF concerned over repeated attempts to intimidate television producer and his family

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed outrage at an attempt to intimidate Daniel Otero, co-producer of the investigative programme "Puntodoc" on Azul TV. The incident, which took place on 12 March 2005 in Quilmes, southeastern Buenos Aires, follows a number of threats against Otero and a physical attack on his 19-year-old son on 25 December 2004.

The harassment appears to stem from a September 2004 "Puntodoc" report produced by Otero, which revealed that school canteens in the Florencio Varela municipality, a southern suburb of Buenos Aires, either lacked food or were being supplied with spoiled food. The programme blamed Mayor Julio Pereyra and former school council president Genaro Simioli.

"We object to the impunity apparently being afforded to [Otero's] aggressors, who target not only [this] journalist but also those close to him," RSF said. "We call for a thorough investigation to establish the role of the local authorities in this case, and, more generally, we demand that press freedom be respected in the region in question."

Otero received anonymous threats after the "Puntodoc" programme was broadcast. On 25 December, his son, Juan Manuel Otero, was physically attacked by a gang of seven individuals, including the mayor's son, Daniel Pereyra. He sustained injuries to his nose and face. Otero's son sought help from the police but they dismissed his pleas. When he later filed a complaint over the incident, it was not forwarded to a judge until 10 days later, instead of the mandatory 72 hours. The police also refused to describe the incident as an "assault" in the complaint, using the term "brawl" instead.

On 12 March 2005, one of the windows of Daniel Otero's car was broken and a knife was placed on a seat in an apparent warning. The incident occurred while the car was parked near his mother's house in Quilmes. The police surveillance of the house requested by Otero had been cancelled without prior notice, despite a judge's promise 24 hours earlier to maintain it.

On 19 March, Claudia Varela, the judge in charge of investigating the attack on Otero's son, refused to take statements from two witnesses to the incident or to meet with the family's lawyer. The lawyer was not able to access the case file until 11 March.

Mario Lettieri, editor of the "Varela al Día" newspaper, who was interviewed in the original "Puntodoc" programme, was also attacked on 27 February in similar fashion to Otero's son. In Lettieri's case, the assailants included the former school council president's son and the brother of a member of the council.