(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Patricia Poleo, director of the daily “El Nuevo País”, has been charged by Military Prosecutor and National Guard Lieutenant Esaúl Olivares Linares for allegedly “instigating rebellion” and “defaming the national armed forces”. On 22 March 2004, Poleo received a summons stating that she was being charged for having publicised a video that […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – Journalist Patricia Poleo, director of the daily “El Nuevo País”, has been charged by Military Prosecutor and National Guard Lieutenant Esaúl Olivares Linares for allegedly “instigating rebellion” and “defaming the national armed forces”.
On 22 March 2004, Poleo received a summons stating that she was being charged for having publicised a video that showed a group of individuals, allegedly Cubans, inside facilities of the National Guard’s Sixth Regional Command.
Lawyer Négar Granado told IPYS that, on 24 March, he and the journalist’s other lawyers asked the Military Prosecutor’s Office for a postponement of the hearing, which was set for 25 March. They also asked to be allowed to review Poleo’s file, a right guaranteed by the Criminal Code, and they requested that the case be heard by a civilian rather than a military tribunal.
“We went to the Military Prosecutor’s Office to question their jurisdiction in the case, since civilians, acting as such, cannot be tried by a military court,” Granados said.
The lawyers were informed that Poleo’s hearing would take place on 29 March and that the only opportunity they would have to see her file would be on the afternoon of 26 March.
In March 2002, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for precautionary measures in support of Poleo and three other Venezuelan journalists after they received threats in writing and telephone calls.
