(IPYS/IFEX) – The office of the ad hoc public prosecutor for taxation and customs offences admitted the charge presented by military authorities against the journalists’ association Prensa Libre, for crimes against the public faith. The association is accused of falsifying Army Intelligence Service (Servicio de Inteligencia del Ejercito, SIE) documents outlining the persecution and harassment […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – The office of the ad hoc public prosecutor for taxation and
customs offences admitted the charge presented by military authorities
against the journalists’ association Prensa Libre, for crimes against the
public faith. The association is accused of falsifying Army Intelligence
Service (Servicio de Inteligencia del Ejercito, SIE) documents outlining the
persecution and harassment opposition presidential candidates would be
subjected to.
**Updates IFEX alert of 14 September 1999**
The president of the Public Ministry’s Executive Commission (Comision
Ejecutiva del Ministerio Público, CEMP), Blanca Nélida Colán Maguiño,
authorised the case to proceed. According to information gathered by “La
República” daily, the charges tabled by officials from the public
prosecutor’s taxation and customs office against the Prensa Libre
journalists, accuse them of acting against public faith and the authority of
the court.
A complaint against the journalists was submitted by military authorities to
the National Elections Jury and was transferred to the CEMP on the week of
20 September.
In August, in a press conference held in Congress, Prensa Libre accused the
SIE of waging a harassment campaign against Alberto Andrade Carmona and Luis
Castaneda Lossio (both presidential candidates), during their provincial
speaking tours.
Now that the charge has been admitted, legal action against the journalists
that denounced the SIE is imminent. However, some observers have noted that
instead of accussing the accussers, an investigation of the irregularities
the journalists have alluded to should be held instead.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
Appeals To
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 427 6722 / 426 6535Martha Hildebrandt Pérez
President of Congress of the Republic
Fax: +51 1 426 8290Miguel Aljovín Swayne
Attorney General
Fax: +51 1 426 2474Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Ombudsman
Fax: +51 1 426 6657Víctor Raúl Castillo Castillo
President of the Peruvian Supreme Court
Fax: +51 1 428 0803
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
