(IPYS/IFEX) – On 26 June 1999, Julio Sotelo Casanova, former general manager of Frecuencia Latina, was moved by emergency transfer from San Jorge prison to a local clinic. The transfer was arranged after Sotelo showed signs of pneumonia and had severe difficulty breathing. Sotelo is currently under observation in the intensive care unit. His family […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 26 June 1999, Julio Sotelo Casanova, former general manager
of Frecuencia Latina, was moved by emergency transfer from San Jorge prison
to a local clinic. The transfer was arranged after Sotelo showed signs of
pneumonia and had severe difficulty breathing. Sotelo is currently under
observation in the intensive care unit. His family members, permitted to
visit him for a few moments, are concerned about his health because he has
also suffered from a heart ailment which required triple bypass surgery.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 25 June, 21 June, 16 June, 26 May, 9 April, 22
March and 9 March 1999**
Sotelo’s hospital room is guarded by police 24 hours a day. His doctors had
to protest so that Sotelo would not be handcuffed to his bed, which would
have made it impossible to properly care for his health. The police finally
agreed to the doctors’ request.
On 18 June, Sotelo, Baruch Ivcher’s legal counsel, was sentenced to four
years imprisonment, and from the moment he was taken into custody he was
denied certain rights, such as being forbidden from speaking with his
lawyers, Julio Silva Santisteban and Alberto Borea. Sotelo was also forced
to spend several days in prison without any type of coat, which brought on
his pneumonia.
