(IPYS/IFEX) – On 24 February 2006, a group of police officers unexpectedly entered the premises of Amistad radio station, and under the orders of a Captain Mendoza asked sound operator Edwin Revilla, the only person at the station at that time, for detailed information about the journalists who work there and those responsible for the […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 24 February 2006, a group of police officers unexpectedly entered the premises of Amistad radio station, and under the orders of a Captain Mendoza asked sound operator Edwin Revilla, the only person at the station at that time, for detailed information about the journalists who work there and those responsible for the transmissions, as well as details about the radio station’s operations and licences. The incident, which took place in Aucayacu, Huánuco region, central Peru, was reported by journalist Vladimir Angulo. The police’s visit was surprising as this type of procedure normally falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for Transport and Communications (Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones, MTC).
According to Angulo, the police were trying to intimidate the station’s journalists because their reporting had called into question the official version of the events which led to the death of terrorist leader Héctor Aponte Sinarahua, a.k.a. “Clay”, who was killed by the police on 19 February. According to information gathered by the journalist, the police were bothered by the fact that the radio station broadcast on 20 February the testimony of a witness who stated that the terrorist leader did not die during a confrontation, as was stated in the official version, but was summarily shot down.
The Aucayacu police inspector, Commander Róger Rossi Denegri, assured IPYS that his branch never ordered or authorised the police visit to the station. He confirmed that Captain Mendoza is assigned to the police station but declared that he would provide no more details about the event.
Aucayacu is in Alto Huallaga, a region in the Peruvian rainforest that for the last 20 years has been one of the main sites of the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking in the country.
