(IPYS/IFEX) – On the evening of 9 March 1999, there was a public meeting in the central square of Aucayacu, in the Leoncio Prado province, departament of Huanuco. According to this city’s mayor, Wilder Miranda Ordonez, the journalist and owner of radio Panamericana, Jose Luis Bardales Perez (who is also a correspondant for the “La […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On the evening of 9 March 1999, there was a public meeting
in
the central square of Aucayacu, in the Leoncio Prado province,
departament
of Huanuco. According to this city’s mayor, Wilder Miranda Ordonez, the
journalist and owner of radio Panamericana, Jose Luis Bardales Perez
(who is
also a correspondant for the “La Republica” newspaper), had been opposed
to
the forty-eight hour standstill held in Alto Huallaga, that ended today.
The
mayor, in his speech before the public gathering on 9 March, suggested
that
the standstill had been a great success. He also noted “nevertheless,
there
is a news program on radio Panamericana, that is being run by an
irresponsible boy who uses his microphone to dialogue with other people,
and
who wants to boycott and sabotage this standstill (…), and I ask you
ladies and gentlemen, has this been a failure or not? (noooo). Well
then,
this person who is using a microphone to hinder us, to divide this town,
this person should not live in Aucayacu because he has demonstrated with
this attitude that he does not care about this town… he should
leave…
you know who I am talking about, I am referring to Jose Luis Bardales
Perez,
ladies and gentlemen, who is going to study journalism. Hopefully one
day he
will study how to respect this town, which is yourselves, because we are
not
going to allow irresponsible boys to come and put an obstacle to a
legitimate aspiration (…), and it is you the people, who will punish
them
when the time comes…”
On 10 March, IPYS had a telephone conversation with mayor Wilder
Miranda.
Initially, he denied having incited the townspeople to renounce
Bardales.
When he found out that IPYS had a taped copy of his speech, he explained
“I
repeated what the people told me when I asked them: what are we going to
do
when faced with this kind of authority and some media, who are opposed
to
this standstill, a legitimate aspiration… And the people responded: he
should leave.” The mayor also noted that this is the second time that
the
journalist is being thrown out of the town. He was referring to the
kidnapping and death threats inflicted on Bardales by unknown persons on
27
October 1998, and which forced Bardales to take refuge in Lima for some
time. Apparently, this was a result of a press campaign that had
reported
on corruption in the health system. Bardales had recently returned to
Aucayacu.
In IPYS opinion, the mayor’s public attitude, which almost resulted in
Bardales being lynched in the Aucayacu central square on the evening of
9
March, constitutes a serious attack against the freedom of the press. In
addition, he has endangered the physical integrity of the journalist,
who is
presently virtually confined at the radio station.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
the
necessary action to avoid a repeat of this kind of outrage, and ensure
Bardales’ physical integrity
journalist’s
safety and expressing your solidarity with him
Appeals To
President of the Republic
Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
Fax: +511 426 6535Ombudsman
Jorge Santistevan de Noriega
Fax: +511 426 6657General Director of the Peruvian National Police
Lieutenant General Fernando Dianderas Otonne
Fax: +511 225 1775Mayor for the Aucayacu district
Wilder Miranda Ordonez
Common Fax: +51 64 48 8062
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
