(IPYS/IFEX) – On 2 September 2005, the First Criminal Tribunal of the Lima High Court (Primera Sala Penal para Procesos con Reos Libres) overturned a previous ruling that had acquitted journalist Pedro Salinas Chacaltana of defamation charges. Jorge Mufarech Nemy, a member of Congress for the ruling party, filed a complaint for defamation against the […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 2 September 2005, the First Criminal Tribunal of the Lima High Court (Primera Sala Penal para Procesos con Reos Libres) overturned a previous ruling that had acquitted journalist Pedro Salinas Chacaltana of defamation charges. Jorge Mufarech Nemy, a member of Congress for the ruling party, filed a complaint for defamation against the journalist in January 2004. The congressman is seeking a three-year prison for Salinas and payment of US$1 million in damages.
The tribunal, which is charged with hearing cases involving defendants who are not under arrest, decided the previous ruling as null and void because a video that was presented as part of Salinas’s defence was not shown at the right time. The journalist’s defence team said this explanation had no basis as the case had already been settled by Lima’s Twentieth Criminal Court. On 19 November 2004, the court had dismissed the accusation of libel against the journalist and, as a result, did not consider any of the evidence presented by the defence. The congressman subsequently appealed to the Lima First Criminal Tribunal.
This latest decision brings the case back to square one. Salinas, who was advised of the ruling on 21 September, believes that it is a tactical maneuver by Mufarech in order to silence the press.
