(IPYS/IFEX) – On 22 February 2006, Communications and Information Minister Yuri Pimentel announced he will be asking the National Telecommunications Commission (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CONATEL) to conduct an investigation to determine if radio and TV stations have broadcast messages encouraging people to violate the law and impeded or blocked the actions of public security […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 22 February 2006, Communications and Information Minister Yuri Pimentel announced he will be asking the National Telecommunications Commission (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CONATEL) to conduct an investigation to determine if radio and TV stations have broadcast messages encouraging people to violate the law and impeded or blocked the actions of public security bodies and the judiciary and should be penalized. He also stated that he is considering the possibility of having the investigation extended to the print media.
Pimentel made his comments before the National Assembly’s Commission on Science, Technology and Media, which is examining the media’s coverage of the Prosecutor General’s Office’s investigation of the November 2004 murder of prosecutor Danilo Anderson, who at the time of his death was investigating those responsible for the April 2002 attempted coup. On 23 January 2006, the Sixth Review Court (Tribunal Sexto de Control) issued a gag order forbidding the media to publish the records of the preliminary investigation regarding Anderson’s murder, in accordance with Article 304 of the Criminal Procedural Code (Código Orgánico Procesal Penal).
If the investigation of the media outlets requested by the minister is approved, the media outlets may be fined between 1 and 2 percent of their gross incomes, according to Article 28 (section 4, subsections X and Y) of the Radio and Television Social Responsibility Law (Ley de Responsabilidad Social en Radio y Televisión).
