(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Julio Fango, RSF expressed concern over the threats received by Telmo Ibañez, a journalist for the daily “ABC Color”. The organisation asked for an in depth investigation into the threats in order to identify and punish those responsible. “It is the authorities’ responsibility to condemn […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of the Interior Julio Fango, RSF expressed concern over the threats received by Telmo Ibañez, a journalist for the daily “ABC Color”. The organisation asked for an in depth investigation into the threats in order to identify and punish those responsible. “It is the authorities’ responsibility to condemn such behaviour and guarantee the security of news professionals,” stated RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. The threats came a few days after Ibañez was sentenced to a heavy fine for “defamation,” after having implicated several municipal counsellors in irregularities.
According to information collected by RSF, Ibañez, a correspondent for the daily “ABC Color” in Concepción (in central Paraguay), received several death threats via telephone on the night of 25 to 26 September 2001. On 25 September, a car with tinted windows and no license plate was keeping watch over the offices where he works. On 26 August, Ibañez found his car windshield shattered. In March, an unknown assailant smashed his front windshield while he was inside the car with his wife and children. The journalist filed a complaint with the Concepción police.
On 21 September, Ibañez was convicted of “defamation.” He was sentenced to a fine of more than 10 million guaranis (approx. US$2,310; 2,470 euros) and payment for damages in the amount of 3 million guaranis (approx. US$690; 740 euros) to each of the three accusers. Ibañez had written in an article that some municipal counsellors were involved in irregularities committed by former Concepción Mayor Genaro Domínguez, irregularities which were confirmed by the National Treasury Inspector’s Office. After the article was published, the three municipal counsellors involved, Andrés Villalba, Eulogio Echagüe and Blas Cáceres, filed a complaint against the journalist for “defamation.” Several local observers reported that the judge, in effect, limited the defense attorney’s speech during the process, by reducing the amount of time he was able to speak and impeding him from presenting his arguments. Furthermore, the observers emphasised that the judge belongs to the same Masonic lodge as one of the plaintiffs’ children.
