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Alert

RSF warns of real risk of impunity in case of journalist Carlos Quispe Quispe

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is warning of a real risk of impunity in the case of Radio Municipal Pucarani radio station journalist Carlos Quispe Quispe, who was killed in March 2008. The trial of the alleged perpetrators of the crime against Quispe Quispe was postponed three times and has been suspended since 18 June 2008. The case has been marked by judicial negligence and poor press coverage.

Quispe Quispe's death took place in the context of a political crisis at the local and national levels. On 27 March 2008, 300 people attacked the Pucarani municipal government building, which also housed the Radio Municipal Pucarani facilities. Quispe Quispe, who was working at the time of the attack on the building, was severely beaten and left semiconscious. He died on 29 March as a result of his injuries.

Two legal processes were opened in the case, one for robbery and another for homicide. In a year, seven public prosecutors have been involved in the case. Six Pucarani municipal administrators were found to be responsible for the violence that resulted in the journalist's death.

An arrest warrant was issued for two of the six individuals for their involvement in the ransacking of the municipal government building, but they were freed after presenting a habeas corpus petition. Part of the judicial process was suspended due to irregularities in the case. One of the accused men, councilor Edwin Huampu Espinoza, has failed to appear when summoned and yet holds the position of president of the Pucarani Municipal Council. The lawyer for the journalist's family abandoned the case in January 2009.