(IPYS/IFEX) – On 19 September 2000, in a surprise move, Judge Sonia Medina Calvo, of the Ninth Lima Criminal Court, was removed from her post. She had been overseeing the case for defamation and damages filed by officials of “Gente” magazine against the general editor of “El Comercio”, Hugo Guerra of the “Vértice” programme, Canal […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 19 September 2000, in a surprise move, Judge Sonia Medina Calvo, of the Ninth Lima Criminal Court, was removed from her post. She had been overseeing the case for defamation and damages filed by officials of “Gente” magazine against the general editor of “El Comercio”, Hugo Guerra of the “Vértice” programme, Canal N and others.
According to information published by “El Comercio” on 20 September, prior to her removal the judge had complained of the fact that she had been instructed on how to proceed with the aforementioned case by the provisional supreme member of the court, Magistrate Alejandro Rodríguez Medrano.
In an interview with the dean of Peruvian press, Judge Medina Calvo explained that she had barely been handed the case when the magistrate called her to express his interest in holding a summary investigation against the accused, stating that “he would investigate and we would talk about the findings afterwards.” Judge Medina Calvo had also been overseeing a number of other politically charged cases, such as the complaints filed against those accused of acting against public peace during the Marcha de los Cuatro Suyos protest.
The same day she was removed from her post, Judge Medina Calvo filed an official complaint against Magistrate Rodgríguez Medrano with the Office in Charge of the Magistracy (Oficina de Control de la Magistratura, OCMA). Rodríguez Medrano has on more than one occasion been identified as being closely linked to former presidential advisor Vladimiro Montesinos.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– asking for a fair and impartial process in the case launched against Canal N and “El Comercio”‘s general editor
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Ing. Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535
Dr. Federico Salas Guevara Shultz
President of the Council of Ministers
Fax: +51 1 447 1628 / 475 0689
Dr. Blanca Nélida Colán
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474
Dr. Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657
Dr. Alberto Bustamante Belaunde
Minister of Justice
Fax: +51 1 422 3577
Dr. Víctor Raúl Castillo Castillo
President of the Peruvian Supreme Court
Fax: +51 1 428 0803
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
