Lenin Quevedo Bardález, news editor of the digital newspaper "Voces", reported in one of his articles that he may be the victim of an attempt on his life by police officers who were involved in a robbery and whom he had named in a previous article.
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 26 March 2012, Lenin Quevedo Bardález, news editor of the digital newspaper “Voces”, edited in Tarapoto, reported in one of his articles that he may be the victim of an attempt on his life by police officers who were involved in a robbery and whom he had named in a previous article. This incident took place in the San Martín region of eastern Peru.
Bardález, who is also the presenter of Radio Tropical program “Actualidades del Mediodía”, wrote in “Voces” on Saturday 24 March that the owner of a mobile phone shop had reported that some members of the National Police Criminal Investigations Unit (División de Investigación Criminal de la Policía Nacional, DIVINCRI) had stolen USB memory sticks while they were allegedly investigating a theft by common criminals.
Sources inside the DIVINCRI itself warned the journalist that the police officers involved, who had admitted participating in the robbery, wanted to take revenge on him. Bardález immediately requested protection from the Public Prosecutor’s Office and an investigation into the case.
The police officers are in the process of being investigated for the robbery and have been transferred to less important police stations, according to the chief of the National Police Regional Inspectorate, Napoleón Salazar, who also said that the owner of the telephone shop has not filed a formal investigation so far, meaning that the investigations cannot yet go forward.
IPYS condemns the threats against Bardález and requests that the relevant authorities protect his life and sanction those who intend to intimidate him.
