(IPYS/IFEX) – IPYS condemns the 4 May 2005 decision of the Eleventh Criminal Court, presided by Judge Alfredo Catacora. Catacora found journalists Sally Bowen and Jane Holligan guilty of defaming businessman Fernando Zevallos and awarded him 10,000 soles (approx. US$3,000) in civil damages. In a ruling that sets a dangerous precedent, Bowen and Holligan, both […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – IPYS condemns the 4 May 2005 decision of the Eleventh Criminal Court, presided by Judge Alfredo Catacora. Catacora found journalists Sally Bowen and Jane Holligan guilty of defaming businessman Fernando Zevallos and awarded him 10,000 soles (approx. US$3,000) in civil damages.
In a ruling that sets a dangerous precedent, Bowen and Holligan, both British, were found guilty of defaming Zevallos. The businessman had filed a complaint regarding the inclusion of statements, made by Óscar Benítes Linares, an ex-informant of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), in the journalists’ 2003 book, “El espía imperfecto”, implicating him in drug-trafficking. [The book is published in English under the title “The Imperfect Spy: The many lives of Vladimir Montesinos”]. Zevallos is currently being tried for drug-trafficking, and Linares’s statements have since been corroborated by other DEA sources.
This ruling will mean that no journalist will be able to cite testimony from a source without the information having been first ratified by a court verdict that the person referred to is guilty, on the grounds that doing so allegedly lends credibility to the veracity of that testimony.
[The two journalists were also sentenced to a year of probation, implying significant restrictions on their freedom of movement within Peru and on their right to leave the country. Application of this latter sentence has been deferred pending the outcome of Zevallos’s trial. The deferment did not apply to the award for civil damages.]
Bowen and Holligan are appealing the verdict. Zevallos is appealing the award for damages, considering the ruling “too lenient.” Both appeals will be heard in the Superior Court of Justice of Lima.
