(IPYS/IFEX) – On 1 January 2007, the house of journalist Marilú Gambini was broken into by unidentified persons who rummaged through it, messed it up and tore papers that the journalist kept in boxes. This took place in Chimbote, northwestern Peru. The journalist has been in hiding since April 2006 when she started receiving death […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 1 January 2007, the house of journalist Marilú Gambini was broken into by unidentified persons who rummaged through it, messed it up and tore papers that the journalist kept in boxes. This took place in Chimbote, northwestern Peru. The journalist has been in hiding since April 2006 when she started receiving death threats after publishing a series of articles on drug trafficking.
The burglary was reported by Jorge Vega, the security guard who watches Gambini’s house in Chimbote. Vega stated to IPYS that he found that the door to the house had been forced open on returning from doing some shopping. Once inside he saw that papers had been destroyed and scattered around the house, which was left in a mess.
Vega went to the Chimbote police station in order to file a formal complaint but was told that only the owner of the house could do so.
Two men forced their way into the house again during the early hours of 2 January while Vega was asleep. They beat him, demanding he inform them of Gambini’s whereabouts. One of them produced a knife and threatened him with it for having reported the previous day’s burglary to the police, following which they left.
Alarmed by the incident, Vega turned to the Ombudsperson’s representative in Chimbote, Roslin Villanueva, to ask for help.
