17 May 1999

Alert

Court decides that APRODEV's Internet page must be removed


Incident details

other


(IPYS/IFEX) - The following is a 14 May 1999 IPYS press release:





**Updates IFEX alerts of 20 April, 8 April 1999 and 2 December 1998**

Greta Inaya, of the Lima 2nd Criminal Court and Antonia Saquicuray, of the
Lima 47th Criminal Court, made rulings for the plaintiffs in an aggravated
defamation case presented by a group of independent journalists against the
legal representative of the Association for the Defense of the Truth
(Asociacion Pro Defensa de la Verdad, APRODEV), Argentinian citizen Héctor
Ricardo Faisal.

The journalists had filed charges with these two courts on 15 April 1999,
claiming that they had been victims of a defamatory campaign via a web page
(see IFEX alerts).

In response to the criminal charges, the judges passed two rulings ordering
an ongoing investigation and the immediate withdrawal of APRODEV's web page.
On 12 May, Faisal was notified of the two decisions, but up to now he has
not complied with the order to take down the web page. Furthermore, Faisal
was scheduled to appear before the court today [14 May] but failed to do so,
stating that he had not been notified ten days in advance, a condition which
is not stipulated by law.

In a surprising development, Minaya and Saquicuray were removed from their
posts yesterday, 13 May and today, 14 May, respectively, and were replaced
by two substitute judges. The possibility that the two judges' removal is
connected to their rulings should not be discounted. We hope that the
proceedings will continue to be carried out in an independent manner.

Lima, 14 May 1999





Source:

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Updates to this story

Peruvian government rejects authority of the Inter American Court on Human Rights 16 July 1999 Aprodev's representative again in court 14 July 1999 APRODEV's representative testifies before a judge 11 June 1999 APRODEV's representative testifies before a judge 11 June 1999

More on this case

Police capture Argentine fugitive who created a web page to defame journalists and politicians opposed to former president Fujimori 5 December 2001 APRODEV's representative is summoned by court for the third time 2 June 1999 New attack against independent press 1 June 1999 "La República" editor threatened with slander charge 28 May 1999 Judge repeals previous ruling on the APRODEV case 21 May 1999 Renewed attacks against the director of "La República" 30 April 1999 Journalists denounce APRODEV's legal representative 20 April 1999 Internet campaign against journalists and politicians continues 8 April 1999 Campaign against journalists and politicians taken to Internet 2 December 1998

At a glance

Peru
Peru
 
Key reports and information
  • Midyear Meeting Report 2012: Peru

    Journalists attacked for revealing that "police had been extorting smugglers and drug traffickers who operate in the border area between Peru and Bolivia"

    Inter American Press Association 23 April 2012

  • Press Freedom Index 2011-2012: Peru

    "Peru, notorious for the frequency of attacks on the press"

    Reporters Without Borders 26 January 2012

  • World Report 2012: Peru

    Government introduces legislation to decriminalise defamation

    Human Rights Watch 23 January 2012

 
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