(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 22 May 2001 letter to Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada, CPJ protested the criminal defamation charges filed against Carolina Pavon, a reporter with the Mexico City daily “Reforma”, and Alejandro Junco de la Vega, president and publisher of the paper. Former Mexico City mayor Rosario Robles Berlanga brought the charges over […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 22 May 2001 letter to Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada, CPJ protested the criminal defamation charges filed against Carolina Pavon, a reporter with the Mexico City daily “Reforma”, and Alejandro Junco de la Vega, president and publisher of the paper.
Former Mexico City mayor Rosario Robles Berlanga brought the charges over an 12 April cover story in which Pavon reported on official allegations that almost ten percent of Robles administration’s 2000 budget had gone missing.
The allegations were originally made in a report from the Comptroller General’s Office of Mexico City, which found that nearly six billion Mexican pesos (US$650 million) were unaccounted for in last year’s budget.
Robles does not reject the allegations, but contends that she had no knowledge of the alleged malfeasance and therefore cannot be held responsible.
On 16 April, Robles, who was mayor of Mexico City until December 2000, filed a criminal defamation complaint against Pavon and Junco de la Vega before Federal District attorney general Bernardo Bátiz.
“Reforma”‘s manager of legal affairs, Eugenio Herrera Terrazas, told CPJ that the suit is based on Article 350 of the Federal District’s Penal Code. If convicted, Pavon and Junco de la Vega could be jailed for up to two years.
CPJ finds it outrageous that Robles should make a criminal matter of her objections to a factual report on a matter of obvious public interest. CPJ believes that no journalist should ever be jailed for his or her work. Freedom of expression is guaranteed to all Mexicans under Article 6 of the Constitution. In CPJ’s view, Mexico’s criminal defamation laws violate this basic right.
It is especially vital that defamation not be a criminal offense in cases involving government officials, who must be subject to scrutiny and criticism from the citizens they serve. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States shares this view. In its Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, the commission states that, “The protection of a person’s reputation should only be guaranteed through civil sanctions in those cases in which the person offended is a public official, a public person or a private person who has voluntarily become involved in matters of public interest.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– urging him to take all lawful measures within his power to ensure that the charges against Pavon and Junco de la Vega are dropped, and that in future, no Mexican journalist has cause to fear criminal prosecution for doing his or her professional duty
Appeals To
President Vicente Fox Quesada
President of Mexico
Los Pinos
Mexico City, Mexico
Fax: +525 516 5762
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
