(IPYS/IFEX) – The following is a 14 May 1999 IPYS press release: **Updates IFEX alerts of 20 April, 8 April 1999 and 2 December 1998** Greta Inaya, of the Lima 2nd Criminal Court and Antonia Saquicuray, of the Lima 47th Criminal Court, made rulings for the plaintiffs in an aggravated defamation case presented by a […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – The following is a 14 May 1999 IPYS press release:
**Updates IFEX alerts of 20 April, 8 April 1999 and 2 December 1998**
Greta Inaya, of the Lima 2nd Criminal Court and Antonia Saquicuray, of the
Lima 47th Criminal Court, made rulings for the plaintiffs in an aggravated
defamation case presented by a group of independent journalists against the
legal representative of the Association for the Defense of the Truth
(Asociacion Pro Defensa de la Verdad, APRODEV), Argentinian citizen Héctor
Ricardo Faisal.
The journalists had filed charges with these two courts on 15 April 1999,
claiming that they had been victims of a defamatory campaign via a web page
(see IFEX alerts).
In response to the criminal charges, the judges passed two rulings ordering
an ongoing investigation and the immediate withdrawal of APRODEV’s web page.
On 12 May, Faisal was notified of the two decisions, but up to now he has
not complied with the order to take down the web page. Furthermore, Faisal
was scheduled to appear before the court today [14 May] but failed to do so,
stating that he had not been notified ten days in advance, a condition which
is not stipulated by law.
In a surprising development, Minaya and Saquicuray were removed from their
posts yesterday, 13 May and today, 14 May, respectively, and were replaced
by two substitute judges. The possibility that the two judges’ removal is
connected to their rulings should not be discounted. We hope that the
proceedings will continue to be carried out in an independent manner.
Lima, 14 May 1999
