(IPYS/IFEX) – On 23 August 1999, journalist Rubén Trujillo, press coordinator for channel 9 ATV, announced on his television programme that he had received numerous anonymous death threats over the telephone and suggestions that the viceminister of the Presidency, Freddy Moreno, was the intellectual author of the calls. Trujillo stated that he received thirty-eight threatening […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 23 August 1999, journalist Rubén Trujillo, press
coordinator for channel 9 ATV, announced on his television programme that he
had received numerous anonymous death threats over the telephone and
suggestions that the viceminister of the Presidency, Freddy Moreno, was the
intellectual author of the calls.
Trujillo stated that he received thirty-eight threatening telephone calls on
23 August. On a number of the calls he was told: “Stop trying to pick a
quarrel with Freddy Moreno, stop meddling in the Moreno family’s business.”
On the same day, a fax apparently written by Viceminister Moreno was sent to
the journalist’s office, noting the viceminister’s powerful position in the
city of Huaraz, insulting Trujillo and warning him of a possible “accident”.
Curiously, as Trujillo noted, he had never reported on or insinuated that
Moreno had committed irregularities in Huaraz. More recently, before the
intimidation began, Trujillo had decided to send a team of reporters to
investigate the corruption in Huaraz.
In the fax, Trujillo is accused of having damaged Moreno’s reputation and of
having allied with the Huaraz mayor, Oswaldo Ríos, against Moreno. The fax
also contains insults directed at Pamela Vértiz, a reporter with the
Panorama programme shown on PanAmerican Television, and threats against Luis
Iberico, the general manager of the “Referéndum” daily.
On 20 August, Trujillo announced that he was being threatened by an
influential Huaraz personality, who bragged about being closely linked with
the central government. At the time Trujillo avoided naming this person, but
noted that he had received threats in telephone calls to his home and
office, in messages recorded on his cellular answering machine and in
letters.
Trujillo further stated that the person who was behind the threats had
suggested that the local press was under his control and that he had paid
Trujillo and other Lima journalists for their complicit silence. According
to two of Trujillo’s sources, this took place during an argument with the
Huaraz mayor, during an official ceremony held by the municipality on 25
July.
On his 20 August programme, Trujillo read part of an anonymous letter
addressed to him. In the letter, he was warned to refrain from reporting on
this powerful person – Moreno -, advised that he was being watched and
reminded that he was accused of having been bribed. Iberico, Vértiz and the
investigative reporter for the “La República” newspaper, Ángel Páez , who
was called “a seller of his country”, were also addressed in the letter..
On the envelope, the sender is identified as Huaraz Mayor Ríos. Nevetheless,
the contents of the letter suggest that it was written by someone close to
the viceminister.
After he was threatened, Trujillo spoke with the viceminister and with the
Huaraz mayor and came to the conclusion that neither one of them was
responsible for the threats. The journalist believes that another powerful
Huaraz figure is trying to blame Moreno and Ríos and, at the same time,
intimidate him.
On his 23 August programme, Trujillo insisted that he was not accusing
Moreno of being behind the threats, but was trying to alert him to the fact
that, if he had nothing to do with this, someone was trying to use his name
to intimidate the journalist.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
those who are behind them
Appeals To
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535Martha Hildebrandt Pérez
President of the Congress of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 426 8290Miguel Aljovín Swayne
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657Edgardo Mosqueira Medina
Minister of the Presidency
Fax: +51 1 222 3678
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