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Alert

Several community radio stations closed, one station director jailed for 6 days

SOURCE: Centro de Reportes Informativos sobre Guatemala (CERIGUA), Guatemala City

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - So far in March 2006, nine community radio stations have been closed by the Special Prosecutor's Office on Crimes against Journalists and Trade Unionists (Fiscalía Especial de Delitos contra Periodistas y Sindicalistas del Ministerio Público), with the support of the Guatemalan Telecommunications Superintendent's Office (Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones de Guatemala, SIT), and the National Broadcasting Chamber. CERIGUA condemns these actions as a violation of the right to free expression.

On 9 March, Radio Voz Latina, located in the town of Chimaltenango, capital of Chimaltenango department, was closed. Station director Ana Piedad Martín was detained, and had to take her daughter, a minor, with her to jail. She was released on 15 March after paying a fine.

Radio Stereo Nolber Sideral, in the city of Huehuetenango, capital of Huehuetenango department, was also closed on 9 March. Director Óscar Rafael López and technician Esbin Martínez Palacios were detained; both were released later the same day after paying a fine.

According to the Movement for Peace, Disarmament and Freedom (Movimiento por la Paz, el Desarme y la Libertad, MPDL) - a Spanish-based human rights NGO which has been providing moral support to the radio stations - both stations, especially Radio Voz Latina, have been providing a valuable service to their communities, allowing young students to have radio programs and cultural exchanges, thereby promoting the youth's participation in their communities.

The following radio stations were also raided and closed on 9 March: Presencia Stéreo, Radio Cairo and Radio Mayense, in Chimaltenango, and Radio Acción, in Huehuetenango.

The stations have not been able to resume broadcasting, because the authorities confiscated their transmission equipment.

The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) has responded to the SIT's actions by requesting that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ask the Guatemalan state to adopt precautionary measures to protect the broadcasters' and the communities' rights to freedom of expression.